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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
TEMPER, by CLARA EXLINE BOCKOVEN First Line: So you've a 'quick' temper, lad, you say? Last Line: Tempered mettle holds its edge! Subject(s): Emotions; Temperance; Prohibition | |||
So you've a "quick" temper, lad, you say? You don't seem to mind it, anyway, Or you wouldn't admit it so jauntily; But what do you mean by it now, let's see? You lose it so easily, you say? Well, so does that knife I whetted today. It was cheap and its mettle is poor, that's why I can't keep it sharp, however I try. It's easy to nick, and softest wood Turns its edge. The thing's no good! If little annoyances ruffle you And big ones rile you through and through, If roughness turns your spirit rough, The mettle you're made of is soft—poor stuff. No use to dodge it or try to hedge; Tempered mettle holds its edge! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ODE FOR A SOCIAL MEETING, WITH SLIGHT ALTERATIONS BY A TEETOTALER by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES A TRUCKER DRIVES THROUGH HIS LOST YOUTH by DAVID BOTTOMS THE FIGHTING WORD by BERTON BRALEY THE METHOD OF THE MAD MULLAH by BERTON BRALEY ON A PROHIBITIONIST POEM by GILBERT KEITH CHESTERTON A MAIDEN'S DREAM by ROBERT GREENE OUR PROGRAM by ARTHUR GUITERMAN A CRACK AT THE LAW by ADRIAN HALE |
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