| A VISION I lost the love of heaven above, I spurned the lust of earth below, I felt the sweets of fancied love, And hell itself my only foe. I lost the earth�s joys, but felt the glow Of heaven�s flame abound in me, �Till loveliness and I did grow The bard of immortality. I loved, but women fell away; I hid me from her faded frame. I snatched the sun�s eternal ray And wrote �till earth was but a name. In every language upon earth, On every shore, o�er every sea, I gave my name eternal birth And kept my spirit with the free. ---------------------- RESUME Razors pain you; Rivers are damp; Acids stain you; And drugs cause cramp. Guns aren�t lawful; Nooses give; Gas smells awful; You might as well live. ----------------------- AN OLD STORY Strange that I did not know him then, That friend of mine! I did not even show him then One friendly sign; But cursed him for the ways he had To make me see My envy of the praise he had For praising me. I would have rid the earth of him Once, in my pride - I never knew the worth of him Until he died. ------------------ TENDER-HEARTEDNESS Billy, in one of his nice new sashes, Fell in the fire and was burnt to ashes; Now, although the room grows chilly, I haven�t the heart to poke poor Billy. ----------------- PROBABLY I am the captain of my soul; I rule it with stern joy; And yet I think I had more fun, When I was cabin boy. ------------------- SONGS ABOUT LIFE Nothing from a straight line swerves So sharply as a woman�s curves, And, having swerved, no might or main Can ever put her straight again. |
| ----------------- THE LAST WISH Since all that I can ever do for thee Is to do nothing, this my prayer must be: That thou mayst never guess nor ever see The all-endured this nothing-done cost me. ----------------------------------- WE NEVER SAID FAREWELL We never said farewell, nor ever looked our last upon eachother, for no sign Was made when we the linked chain unhooked And broke the level line. And here we dwell together, side by side, Our places fixed for life upon the chart. Two islands that the roaring seas divide Are not more far apart. ----------------- No more Latin, no more French, No more sitting on a hard board bench. No more beetles in my tea, Making googly eyes at me; No more spiders in my bath Trying hard to make me laugh. |