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


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

BALLADE OF THE MEDIOCRE, by                    
First Line: Ambitious bards with song sublime
Last Line: I beat the cymbals—that is all.
Subject(s): Bards; Singing & Singers


Ambitious bards with song sublime
To win eternal fame essay—
To echo through the deeps of time
The voice of some grand yesterday,
Or on man's throbbing heartstrings play
Love's harmonies unspeakable.
Alas! I am not framed that way;
I beat the cymbals—that is all.

How sweet in slender snares of rhyme
To trap the tender dreams of May,
To catch the bluebell's subtle chime
Of fragrance on the hills astray;
To mock the wildwood's blithe ballet
Of blooms and flitting birds that call
The chorus to spring's roundelay!
I beat the cymbals—that is all.

To be a king of song and climb
Olympus with a lyre—for aye
To rise above the toil and grime
Of life, and from the stars survey
This peevish world's discordant fray—
Ah, this were worth a master's scrawl!
But I the Master must obey;
I beat the cymbals—that is all.

ENVOY.

Friend, in life's changeable array
Some may be great, some must be small,
And some be grave, a few be gay—
I beat the cymbals—that is all.





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