HERE, traveller! pause awhile. This ancient oak Will parasol thee if the sun ride high, Or should the sudden shower be falling fast, Here mayst thou rest umbrella'd. All around Is good and lovely: hard by yonder wall The kennel stands; the horse-flesh hanging near Perchance with scent unsavoury may offend Thy delicate nostrils, but remember thou How sweet a perfume to the hound it yields, And sure its useful odours will regale More gratefully thy philosophic nose, Than what the unprofitable violet Wastes on the wandering wind. Nor wilt thou want Such music as benevolence will love, For from these fruitful boughs the acorns fall Abundant, and the swine that grub around, Shaking with restless pleasure their brief tails That like the tendrils of the vine curl up, Will grunt their greedy joy. Dost thou not love The sounds that speak enjoyment? Oh if not, If thou wouldst rather with inhuman ear Hark to the warblings of some wretched bird Bereft of freedom, sure thine heart is dead To each good feeling, and thy spirit void Of all that softens or ennobles man. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A PASTORAL DIALOGUE: SHEPHERD, NYMPH, CHORUS by THOMAS CAREW SONG OF NATURE by RALPH WALDO EMERSON DAFFODILS by LIZETTE WOODWORTH REESE THE MERMAID by ALFRED TENNYSON SONG OF THE OPEN ROAD by WALT WHITMAN SONNET WRITTEN IN THE FALL OF 1914: 2 by GEORGE EDWARD WOODBERRY |