|
|
|
Classic and Contemporary Poetry
TO THE MAMMOTH-TORTOISE, by HENRY AUSTIN DOBSON Poet Analysis Poet's Biography
First Line: Monster chelonian, you suggest
Last Line: And mend its ways ... At last!
Alternate Author Name(s): Dobson, Austin
Subject(s): Turtles; Tortoises
First Line: Monster chelonian, you suggest
Last Line: And mend its ways ... At last!
Alternate Author Name(s): Dobson, Austin
Subject(s): Turtles; Tortoises
(OF THE MASCARENE ISLANDS)
'Tuque, Testudo, resonare septem
Callida nervis.' -- HOR. iii. II.
MONSTER Chelonian, you suggest
To some, no doubt, the calm, --
The torpid ease of islets drest
In fan-like fern and palm;
To some your cumbrous ways, perchance,
Darwinian dreams recall;
And some your Rip-van-Winkle glance,
And ancient youth appal;
So widely varied views dispose:
But not so mine, -- for me
Your vasty vault but simply shows
A LYRE immense, per se,
A LYRE to which the Muse might chant
A truly 'Orphic tale,'
Could she but find that public want,
A Bard -- of equal scale!
Oh, for a Bard of awful words,
And lungs serenely strong,
To sweep from your sonorous chords
Niagaras of song,
Till, dinned by that tremendous strain,
The grovelling world, aghast,
Should leave its paltry greed of gain,
And mend its ways ... at last!
Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!
Other Poems of Interest...
GIANT TORTOISE by ANTHONY HECHT
THE TURTLE SHRINE NEAR CHITTAGONG by NAOMI SHIHAB NYE
THE PHOENIX AND THE TORTOISE by KENNETH REXROTH
CLOSING TIME AT THE SAN DIEGO ZOO by KAREN SWENSON
TO A BOX TURTLE by JOHN UPDIKE
A FANCY FROM FONTENELLE by HENRY AUSTIN DOBSON