Classic and Contemporary Poetry
AMERICAN THEMES FOR A GILBERT, by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Sir william gilbert, master of the / lightsome and the lyrical Last Line: An opera on the task of finding some one to produce it. Alternate Author Name(s): F. P. A. Subject(s): Satire (as Poetic Genre); Writing & Writers | ||||||||
SIR WILLIAM GILBERT, master of the lightsome and the lyrical. Employed a sharply pointed pen and eke a style satirical; A pen and style that here and now are absolutely needed Alas! that no one lives to write the kind of things that he did! "Yet should a Gilbert rise again, with such a gift for gayety, For academic merriment applauded by the laity, Where are the targets now for his satirical confetti? What themes," you ask, "are worthy of Gilbertian libretti?" "What could he find to write of in these U. S. of Ameriky? What is there for a pen so sharply, subtly esotericky?" Alas! there are a thousand themes, you undiscerning filbert, To furnish inspiration to a man like William Gilbert! An opera, say, replete with quip and crank and quirk and quiddity On presidential calmness and Woodrovian placidity; On Secretary Daniels and the varied consequences Attendant on the dearth of ships and similar defences. On Taste in Music, Letters, Art; on War, and on Neutrality; On men and women, rich and poor, in this and that locality; And thenthis is the Big Idea, and I shall now unloose it An opera on the Task of Finding Some One to Produce It. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE CELL, SELECTION by LYN HEJINIAN OXOTA: A SHORT RUSSIAN NOVEL: CHAPTER 126: THE DOUBTING MAN by LYN HEJINIAN WAKING THE MORNING DREAMLESS AFTER LONG SLEEP by JANE HIRSHFIELD COMPULSIVE QUALIFICATIONS by RICHARD HOWARD DEUTSCH DURCH FREUD by RANDALL JARRELL LET THEM ALONE by ROBINSON JEFFERS ON BUILDING WITH STONE by ROBINSON JEFFERS LINES FROM A PLUTOCRATIC POETASTER TO A DITCH-DIGGER by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS |
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