An ass's hoof alone can hold That poisonous juice which kills by cold. Methought, when I this poem read, No vessel but an ass's head, Such frigid fustian could contain; I mean the head without the brain. The cold conceits, the chilling thoughts, Went down like stupefying draughts: I found my head began to swim, A numbness crept through every limb: In haste, with imprecations dire, I threw the volume in the fire: When, who could think, though cold as ice, It burnt to ashes in a trice. How could I more enhance its fame? Though born in snow, it died in flame. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...EPITAPH FOR A SOLDIER by DAVID IGNATOW ONE OF THE LEAST OF THESE, MY LITTLE ONE' by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE DOLL BELIEVERS by CLARENCE MAJOR A JOYFUL SONG OF FIVE by KATHERINE MANSFIELD TO GOD THE FATHER by KATHERINE MANSFIELD WHEN I WAS A BIRD by KATHERINE MANSFIELD MANHATTAN, 1609 by EDWIN MARKHAM THE BURIAL OF BOSTON CORBETT (ONE WARDEN TO ANOTHER) by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |