Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, BALLADE OF THE COMIC MUSE, by RAY CLARKE ROSE



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

BALLADE OF THE COMIC MUSE, by                    
First Line: Hail! Mistress of the merry tongue
Last Line: When we may court thee, comic muse!
Subject(s): Humor; Muses


Hail! mistress of the merry tongue,
Of lively wit and laughing mood;
Gay queen of banter, ever young;
Withal full of solicitude
To ease life's worst vicissitude
By some sage jest or subtle ruse
Of rhyme to teach us not to brood
When we may court thee, Comic Muse!

Since ancient Horace gibed and flung
His verses at Rome's feet the crude
Conceits of time, quaint bards have sung
To make dismay a platitude
And give a wider latitude
To joyousness; for who would choose
The worries of life's endless feud
When we may court the comic muse?

No, let us rather lounge among
Byways obscure, and thus elude
The striving hordes whose gains are wrung;
From tortured lives and servitude.
If fate is harsh and times are rude,
To best resist have naught to lose;
And why should fortune needs be wooed
When we may court the comic muse?

ENVOY.

Muse, lest ambition should delude,
Be gracious, nor our suit refuse;
For mirth shall every ill exclude
When we may court thee, Comic Muse!





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