Not Prose

Poetry is that which is not prose.

One merit of poetry few persons will deny: it says more and in fewer words than prose. –Voltaire

Do you have a poem in your pocket (or pocketbook) yet?

Here’s a poem to top it off:

Oh It is Good by Robert Service

Oh, it is good to drink and sup,
And then beside the kindly fire
To smoke and heap the faggots up,
And rest and dream to heart’s desire.

Oh, it is good to ride and run,
To roam the greenwood wild and free,
To hunt, to idle on the sun,
To leap into the laughing sea.

Oh, it is good with hand and brain
To gladly till the chosen soil,
And after honest sweat and strain
To see the harvest of one’s toil.

Oh, it is good afar to roam,
And seek adventure in strange lands;
Yet oh, so good the coming home,
The velvet love of little hands.

So much is good. We thank Thee, God,
For all the tokens Thou hast given,
That here on earth our feet have trod
Thy little shining trails of Heaven.

2 thoughts on “Not Prose

  1. I took the Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume II, to work with me today. Does that count? (No, I’m not an English teacher.) 🙂 Read Gerard Manley Hopkins over breakfast. “God’s Grandeur” is such a great poem for the morning.

  2. Our two youngest boys, (10 and 12) are copying Emily Dickinson poetry this spring. Here is the one they copied for their notebooks, yesterday:

    If I Can Stop One From Breaking

    If I can stop one heart from breaking,
    I shall not live in vain;
    If I can ease one life the aching,
    Or cool one pain,
    Or help one fainting robin
    Unto his nest again,
    I shall not live in vain.

    ~Emily Dickinson

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *