I'M a strange contradiction; I'm new, and I'm old, I'm often in tatters, and oft decked with gold, Though I never could read, yet lettered I'm found; Though blind, I enlighten; though loose, I am bound, I'm always in black, and I'm always in white I'm grave and I'm gay, I am heavy and light -- In form too I differ, -- I'm thick and I'm thin I've no flesh and no bones, yet I'm covered with skin; I've more points than the compass, more stops than the flute; I sing without voice, without speaking confute. I'm English, I'm German, I'm French, and I'm Dutch. Some love me too fondly, some slight me too much; I often die soon, though I sometimes live ages, And no monarch alive has so many pages. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DOWN BY THE CARIB SEA: 1. SUNRISE IN THE TROPICS by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON A CERTAIN POET ON THE DEBATES by EDGAR LEE MASTERS BONNYBELL: THE GRAY SPHEX by EDGAR LEE MASTERS A GIRL'S THOUGHTS by ISAAC ROSENBERG NIGHT AND DAY: 2 by ISAAC ROSENBERG GOOD-BYE DOROTHY GAYLE: HOME TO FARGO by KAREN SWENSON |