Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, AUTOGRAPHIC, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AUTOGRAPHIC, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: I feel, if aught I ought to rhyme
Last Line: And ought to write -- an autograph.
Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F.
Subject(s): Autographs; Muses; Rhyme


IFEEL, if aught I ought to rhyme,
I ought 'a' thought a longer time,
And ought 'a' caught a higher sense,
Of autocratic eloquence.
I ought 'a' sought each haughty Muse
That taught a thought I ought to use,
And fought and fraught, and so devised
A poem unmonotonized. --
But since all this was vain, I thought
I ought to simply say, -- I ought
To thank you, as I ought to do,
And ought to bow my best to you;
And ought to trust not to intrude
A rudely-wrought-up gratitude,
But ought to smile, and ought to laugh,
And ought to write -- an autograph.





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