Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE SNAIL (2), by RICHARD LOVELACE


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THE SNAIL (2), by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: The centaur, siren, I forgo
Last Line: He wanders with his country, too.
Subject(s): Snails


The centaur, siren, I forgo;
Those have been sung, and loudly, too;
Nor of the mixed sphinx I'll write,
Nor the renowned hermaphrodite:
Behold, this huddle doth appear
Of horses, coach, and charioteer,
That moveth him by traverse law,
And doth himself both drive and draw;
Then, when the sun the south doth win,
He baits him hot in his own inn.
I heard a grave and austere clerk
Resolved him pilot both and bark,
That, like the famed ship of Trevere,
Did on the shore himself laveer.
Yet the authentic do believe,
Who keep their judgement in their sleeve,
That he is his own double man,
And, sick, still carries his sedan;
Or that, like dames i' th' land of Luyck,
He wears his everlasting huke.
But, banished, I admire his fate,
Since neither ostracism of state
Nor a perpetual exile
Can force this virtue change his soil;
For wheresoever he doth go,
He wanders with his country, too.











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