Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE GNAT, by JOSEPH BEAUMONT First Line: One night all tyred wth ye weary day Last Line: All feare. Subject(s): Gnats; Mortality; Night; Bedtime | ||||||||
ONE Night all tyred wth ye weary Day, And wth my tedious selfe, I went to lay My fruitlesse Cares And needlesse feares Asleep. The Curtaines of ye Bed, & of mine Eyes Being drawne, I hop'd no trouble would surprise That Rest wch now Gan on my Brow To creep. When loe a little flie, lesse then its Name (It was a Gnat) with angry Murmur came. About Shee flew, And lowder grew Whilst I Faine would have scorn'd ye silly Thing, & slept Out all its Noise; I resolute silence kept, And laboured so To overthrow The Flie But still wth sharp Alarms vexatious Shee Or challenged, or rather mocked Mee. Angry at last About I cast My Hand. 'Twas well Night would not let me blush, nor see With whom I fought; And yet though feeble Shee Nor Her nor my Owne Wrath could I Command. Away She flies, & Her owne Triumph sings; I being left to fight with idler Things, A feebler pair My Selfe and Aire. How true A worme is Man, whom flies their sport can make! Poor worme; true Rest in no Bed can he take, But one of Earth, Whence He came forth And grew. For there None but his silent Sisters be, Wormes of as true & genuine Earth as He, Which from ye same Corruption came: And there Though on his Eyes they feed, though on his Heart They neither vex nor wake Him; every part Rests in sound sleep, And out doth keep All feare. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE BREATH OF NIGHT by RANDALL JARRELL HOODED NIGHT by ROBINSON JEFFERS NIGHT WITHOUT SLEEP by ROBINSON JEFFERS WORKING OUTSIDE AT NIGHT by DENIS JOHNSON POEM TO TAKE BACK THE NIGHT by JUNE JORDAN COOL DARK ODE by DONALD JUSTICE POEM TO BE READ AT 3 A.M by DONALD JUSTICE ROUND ABOUT MIDNIGHT by BOB KAUFMAN Γενεθλιακον by JOSEPH BEAUMONT Γενεθλιακον by JOSEPH BEAUMONT A CONCLUSORIE HUMNE TO THE SAME WEEK; & FOR MY FRIEND by JOSEPH BEAUMONT |
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