Would you to poetry aspire, To make yourself a name And set the people's hearts afire, Make common words seem tame? Would you have folks to sigh, and say When words of yours they read, "How wonderful! how grand his lay!" And make your thoughts their creed? Would you have clubs named after you To study and discuss The meanings hidden from their view; Say "this and that mean thus"? Would you a monument have reared, When laid away at rest? Would you to thousands be endeared Who'll think of you as blest? Would you have wealth in countless store Your work to compensate, And have disciples by the score Your life to emulate. Would you have kings and queens bow down Before your matchless wit, And by your poems win renown Ere you make your exit? If you would these things bring about, Have folks think you're immense, Just write your poems all without One particle of sense. Just make your meaning so obscure That scholars everywhere, Professional or amateur, To criticize won't dare. And thus will you win place and fame, Like Emerson and Browning; Remember they did just the same, Their readers did the crowning. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE MOTHER by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON VENUS IN A GARDEN by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON THE LEAVES FIRST by CARL PHILLIPS |