Classic and Contemporary Poetry
CONTENTMENT, AFTER THE MANNER OF HORACE, by CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY Poet's Biography First Line: Friend, there be they on whom mishap Last Line: Their carpet-bag. Subject(s): Contentment | ||||||||
Friend, there be they on whom mishap Or never or so rarely comes, That, when they think thereof, they snap Derisive thumbs: And there be they who lightly lose Their all, yet feel no aching void; Should aught annoy them, they refuse To be annoyed: And fain would I be e'en as these! Life is with such all beer and skittles; They are not difficult to please About their victuals: The trout, the grouse, the early pea, By such, if there, are freely taken; If not, they munch with equal glee Their bit of bacon: And when they wax a little gay And chaff the public after luncheon, If they're confronted with a stray Policeman's truncheon, They gaze thereat with outstretched necks, And laughter which no threats can smother, And tell the horror-stricken X That he's another. In snowtime if they cross a spot Where unsuspected boys have slid, They would not fall down -- though they would not Mind if they did: When the spring rosebud which they wear Breaks short and tumbles from its stem, No thought of being angry e'er Dawns upon them; Though 'twas Jemima's hand that placed, (As well you ween) at evening's hour, In the love button-hole that chaste And cherished flower. And when they travel, if they find That they have left their pocket-compass Or Murray or thick boots behind, They raise no rumpus, But plod serenely on without: Knowing it's better to endure The evil which beyond all doubt You cannot cure. When for that early train they're late, They do not make, their woes the text Of sermons in the Times, but wait On for the next; And jump inside, and only grin Should it appear that that dry wag, The guard, omitted to put in Their carpet-bag. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PARTHENOPHE: SONNET 66 by BARNABE BARNES I UNCOIL MYSELF AND LIE STRAIGHT OUT by DAVID IGNATOW WITHOUT RECRIMINATION by DAVID IGNATOW EVENTIDE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL by DORIANNE LAUX TO TWO UNKNOWN LADIES by AMY LOWELL HIC VIR, HIC EST' by CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY |
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