Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, FOR WHOM SHALL I WRITE?, by CHARLES LOUIS HENRY WAGNER


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

FOR WHOM SHALL I WRITE?, by                    
First Line: For whom shall I write, and what purpose in sight?
Last Line: I shall write for the souls who with truth sympathize.
Subject(s): Authors And Authorship; Writing & Writers


For whom shall I write, and what purpose in sight?
Do the critics give heed when invited to read
The thoughts I indite in my study at night?
Oh, no; they impede every chance to succeed
And strangle my might by praises so slight
I fain would recede with my uttermost speed
Back, back from the land of the poet's delight.

For whom, then, for whom shall I pierce the dark gloom
Of the poet's own soul, or vent thoughts that control
The spirits that loom in his intellect's tomb?
Shall I stoop to cajole the plebian droll,
Or shall I presume to the day of my doom
To strive for a goal which is part of the whole?
Oh, no; for such thoughts my soul has no room.

I shall write for the prize in the gift of the wise,
I shall strive for renown and in hope of a crown,
My work shall comprise all the best I devise,
What though critic or clown shall attempt to tear down
Or damn and despise under faint praise's guise,
And snicker or frown when they meet me in town,
I shall write for the souls who with truth sympathize.





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