Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, MY SONG, by JOHANNA AMBROSIUS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MY SONG, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: My song I will not sell for gold
Last Line: The laurel's leaf is bitter.
Subject(s): Poetry & Poets


MY song I will not sell for gold;
Nor fame nor honor'll buy it;
I sing it for myself alone,
Or praise ye or decry it.
No master e'er hath taught the art,
Nor have I learned one feature;
The music came direct from God,
The words were writ by Nature.

Full oft the breeze of morning bears
A page from distant regions;
I marvel when I note the things
Which men must learn in legions.
If rhyme be faulty, all condemn;
And if 't is not quite flawless,
One poet's work another blames
With judgment far too lawless.

A foot's here missing, there a rhyme;
Then undue flourish grieves them.
Full eagerly they strive and toil
Until the turf receives them.
My song of solitude I sing,
With all its many errors;
'T is for myself and for my God:
The critic hath no terrors.

Therefore, kind friends, strive not to teach
Me learning's strict rules narrow;
The nightingale's notes do not ask
From throat of northern sparrow.
Yet thanks I give for fame and praise,
With all their fleeting glitter;
From practice as a cook, I know
The laurel's leaf is bitter.





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