Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ON THE REED by ANONYMOUS

First Line: I WAS OF LATE A BARREN PLANT
Last Line: AS IF BY PHOEBUS' SELF INSPIRED
I WAS of late a barren plant,
Useless, insignificant,
Nor fig, nor grape, nor apple bore,
A native of the marshy shore;
But gathered for poetic use,
And plunged into a sable juice,
Of which my modicum I sip
With narrow mouth and slender lip,
At once, although by nature dumb,
All eloquent I have become,
And speak with fluency untired,
As if by Phoebus' self inspired.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net