Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO A FRIEND IN THE MAKING by MARIANNE MOORE

Poet Analysis

First Line: YOU WILD, UNCOOKED YOUNG FELLOW!
Last Line: YOUR CANDOR COMPENSATES ME FOR MY OLD BOUQUET.
Subject(s): AUTHORS & AUTHORSHIP;
You wild, uncooked young fellow!
The swinkèd hind will stumble home
Not looking at the tasks he scorned to shirk.
Impelled to respite by rough hands,
The labored ox will bellow;
While you stand there agape before your handiwork.

Not all good men are mellow.
You savor of a walnut rind,
Of oak leaves, or plucked mullein on the brae.
And yet with all your clumsiness,
You give me pleasure, fellow;
Your candor compensates me for my old bouquet.



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