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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
HOW CAN I SING?, by FREDERICK C. BODEN First Line: Loudly the chanticleer now crows Last Line: And wake them up that I may sing. Subject(s): Dawn; Singing & Singers; Sunrise; Songs | |||
Loudly the chanticleer now crows, So loud he makes the morning ring, He'll wake men up, so hard he blows, But till he does I cannot sing. How can I sing while others weep And groan beneath their travailing, And cry a God who's fast asleep And hears them not—how can I sing? How can I sing when I've no salve For putrid sore and deadly sting?— And people sleep in rags and starve And will not wake—how can I sing? There's better men alive to-day Than God or any such poor thing, And yet the nations rob and slay And will not cease.—How can I sing? O chanticleer that sounds the dawn, Now rouse them with your heralding, O chanticleer, you bring the morn, And till you do I cannot sing. For men sleep sound and would not hear And 'twill be vain, my flute-playing, So sound your note, you chanticleer, And wake them up that I may sing. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE APOLLO TRIO by CONRAD AIKEN BAD GIRL SINGING by MARK JARMAN CHAMBER MUSIC: 4 by JAMES JOYCE CHAMBER MUSIC: 5 by JAMES JOYCE CHAMBER MUSIC: 28 by JAMES JOYCE THE SONG OF THE NIGHTINGALE IS LIKE THE SCENT OF SYRINGA by MINA LOY LORD WALTER'S WIFE by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING |
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