Hope gnawed at my heart like a hungry rat, Ran in and out of my dreams high-walled, I heard its scampering feet: "Pretty rat -- pretty rat --!" I called, And crumbled it songs to eat. Hope peeped at me from behind my dreams, Nibbled the crumbs of my melodies, Grew tame and sleek and fat; Oh but my heart knew ease To feel the teeth of my rat! Then came a night -- and then a day -- I heard soft feet that scuttled away -- Rats leave the sinking ship, they say. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE LAKE BOATS by EDGAR LEE MASTERS WALT WHITMAN by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON ON THE THREE PHILOSOPHICAL POETS by GEORGE SANTAYANA MONOLOGUE FROM A MATTRESS by LOUIS UNTERMEYER HELEN, THE SAD QUEEN by PAUL VALERY |