GIVEN a roof, and a taste for rations, And you have the key to the "wealth of nations." Given a boy, a tree, and a hatchet, And virtue strives in vain to match it. Given a pair, a snake, and an apple, You make the whole world need a chapel. Given "no cards," broad views, and a hovel, You have a realistic novel. Given symptoms and doctors with potion and pill, And your heirs will ere long be contesting your will. That good leads to evil there's no denying: If it were not for @3truth@1 there would be no @3lying@1. "I'm nobody!" should have a hearse; But then, "I'm somebody!" is worse. "Folks say," @3et cetera!@1 Well, they shouldn't, And if they knew you well, they wouldn't. When you coddle your life, all its vigor and grace Shrink away with the whisper, "We're in the wrong place." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HUGH SELWYN MAUBERLEY: 6. YEUX GLAUQUES by EZRA POUND THE BATTLE-CRY OF FREEDOM by GEORGE FREDERICK ROOT QUATRAIN: FROM EASTERN SOURCES: 2 by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH MATTERHORN QUESTS by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON |