Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

CARELESS LINES ON LABOUR by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS

Poet Analysis

First Line: O YE THAT LIE ON THE SANDY BEACH
Last Line: I SPOKE OF IN II AND III.
Subject(s): POETRY & POETS; WRITING & WRITERS;
I

O YE that lie on the sandy beach,
With nothing whatever to do,
Beyond the beckoning, grasping reach
Of the city and all its crew—

II

There are pleasanter things in summertime
Than to coax the bashful laugh,
Than to build the lofty and careful rhyme,
And to prune a paragraph.

III

There are pleasanter things to do at night
Alluringer things by day,
Than to seek a subject on which to write
A merrily mirthsome lay.

IV

And so when it squeaks as I strike the strings,
And I long to be labour-free,
I just go and do those pleasanter things
I spoke of in II and III.



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