Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, WRITTEN IN A COMMON-PLACE BOOK, CALLED 'THE BOOK OF FOLLIES', by THOMAS MOORE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

WRITTEN IN A COMMON-PLACE BOOK, CALLED 'THE BOOK OF FOLLIES', by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: This tribute's from a wretched elf
Last Line: Then shut the book, o god! For ever!
Alternate Author Name(s): Little, Thomas
Subject(s): Books; Reading


In which every one that opened it should contribute something.

TO THE BOOK OF FOLLIES.

THIS tribute 's from a wretched elf,
Who hails thee, emblem of himself!
The book of life, which I have traced,
Has been, like thee, a motley waste
Of follies scribbled o'er and o'er,
One folly bringing hundreds more.
Some have indeed been writ so neat,
In characters so fair, so sweet,
That those who judge not too severely,
Have said they loved such follies dearly!
Yet still, O book! the allusion stands;
For these were penn'd by female hands:
The rest, -- alas! I own the truth, --
Have all been scribbled so uncouth,
That Prudence, with a withering look,
Disdainful flings away the book.
Like thine, its pages here and there
Have oft been stain'd with blots of care;
And sometimes hours of peace, I own,
Upon some fairer leaves have shown,
White as the snowings of that heaven
By which those hours of peace were given.
But now no longer -- such, oh! such
The blast of Disappointment's touch! --
No longer now those hours appear;
Each leaf is sullied by a tear:
Blank, blank, is every page with care,
Not e'en a folly brightens there.
Will they yet brighten? -- Never, never!
Then shut the book, O God! for ever!





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