Poem Outlines

Name: Poem Outlines
Author: Lanier, Sidney

Lanier, Sidney

American literature -- 19th century

Betwixt the upper Mill-stone _Yes_
             And the nether Mill-stone _No_,
           Whence cometh _burr_ and _burr_ and _burr_
             And much noise of quarrel,
           The Miller poured the hopper full
                   Of corn from the bag,
           And in the corn lay one violet,
           (Maybe the farmer's little girl dropped it in
           When the boy went to the bin to fill the bag).
             And _burr_ quoth the upper Mill-stone,
           And _burr you back again_ the nether,
           And the violet was ground with the corn,
           But passed not into the bag with the meal,
                   Thank God!
           The odor of crushed violet flew forth
             And passed about the ages;
           And men here and there had a sense
           Of somewhat rich and high-intense,
           Dewy, fiery, dear, forlorn,
           Delicate, grave, new out of the morn,
                   But saturate yet
           With the night despair that every flower will wet.

 [_Credo, and Other Poems_]




                         A BUSINESS TRANSACTION


               The poet stepped into a grimy den,
                 Where the sign above the door
               Said: Money to lend, in sums to suit,
                 On Real Estate, &c.

               I want, said the Poet,
                 (So many thousand dollars).
               So said Cent per Cent, rubbing his hands,
                 Where is the property?

               I offer, said the Poet,
                 My Castle in Spain,
               'Tis a lovely house,
                 So many rooms, acres, &c.




 Ambling, ambling round the ring,
   Round the ring of daily duty,
 Leap, Circus-rider, man, through the paper hoop of death,
   —Ah, lightest thou, beyond death, on this same slow-ambling, padded
      horse of life.

Youth, the circus-rider, fares gaily round the ring, standing with one
foot on the bare-backed horse—the Ideal. Presently, at the moment of
manhood, Life (exacting ring-master) causes another horse to be brought
in who passes under the rider's legs, and ambles on. This is the Real.
The young man takes up the reins, places a foot on each animal, and the
business now becomes serious.

For it is a differing pace, of these two, the Real and the Ideal.

And yet no man can be said to make the least success in life who does
not contrive to make them go well together.




The Age is an Adonis that pursues the boar Wealth: yet shall the rude
tusk of trade wound this blue-veined thigh,—if _Love_ come not to the
rescue; Adon despises Love.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Poem Outlines

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