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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
HE THREATENS FINALLY TO ESCAPE INTO SOME DESERT, TURN JACK-ASS, AND..., by JAMES CLARENCE MANGAN Poet's Biography First Line: O, mentis, vanitas! O, asshishness of man! Last Line: I may, by hook of crook, make prize of three half-crowns | |||
0, mentis vanitas! 0, assishness of Man! What boots it me, alas! that with enormous toil I snore through Paracelsus, Plato, Bacon, Boyle, And other humdrum humbugs? Chasing the Tree Of Knowledge, I have trudged from Bershebah to Dan, And all is barren! - I have spent my midnight oil For nought, and sown my seeds upon a stony soil, And now the Mills of Science yield me only bran! Therefore Philosophy, I guess, is not the ticket; Therefore I'll cut and run from all my books, and seek Some savage mountain-den or wild outlandish thicket, And there keep cudgelling my brains from week to week, Till I discover how, despite Miss Fortune's frowns, I may, by hook or crook, make prize of Three Half-Crcwns. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest... |
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