I don't want a dog that is wee and effeminate, Fluffy and peevish and coyly discriminate; Yapping his wants in a querulous tone, Preferring a cake to a good honest bone. I don't want a beast that is simply enormous, Making me feel as obscure as a dormouse Whenever he hurtles with jubilant paws On my shoulders, and rips with his powerful claws My sturdiest frocks; the kind of a mammal That fits in a parlor as well as a camel, That makes the floor shake underfoot when he treads, And bumps into tables and bounds over beds. The sort of a pet that I have in my mind Is a dog of the portable, washable kind; Not huge and unwieldly, not frilly and silly, Not sleek and not fuzzy, not fawning, not chilly -- A merry, straight forward, affectionate creature Who likes me as playmate, respects me as teacher, And thumps with his tail when he sees me come near As gladly as if I'd been gone for a year; Whose eyes, when I praise him, grow warm with elation; Whose tail droops in shame at my disapprobation; No pedigreed plaything to win me a cup -- Just a portable, washable, lovable pup! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE EXISTING POOL by HAYDEN CARRUTH DEVASTATION by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON CHAMBER MUSIC: 8 by JAMES JOYCE FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE by EMMA LAZARUS CELSUS AT HADRIAN'S VILLA by EDGAR LEE MASTERS SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: ELIZABETH CHILDERS by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |