Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts

Thursday, September 25, 2008

THE DOG . . . a poem



THE DOG

I like a dog at my feet when I read,
Whatever his size or whatever his breed.
A dog now and then that will nuzzle my hand
As though I were the greatest of men in the land,
And trying to tell me it’s pleasant to be
On such intimate terms with a fellow like me.

~~~

I like a dog at my side when I eat,
I like to give him a bit of my meat;
And though mother objects and insists it is bad
To let dogs in the dining room, still I am glad
To behold him stretched out on the floor by my chair.
It’s cheering to see such a faithful friend there.
~~~
A dog leads a curious life at the best.
By the wag of his tail is his pleasure expressed.
He pays a high tribute to the man when he stays
True to his friend to the end of his days.
And I wonder sometimes if it happens to be
That dogs pay not heed of the faults which men see.
~~~
Should I prove a failure, should I stoop to wrong;
Be weak at a time when I should have been strong,
And fill with my blundering many an ear,
But still, as I opened my door, I should see
My dog wag his tail with a welcome for me.

Edgar A. Guest

Friday, September 19, 2008

The Poem - The Little Dog's Day

Charlie Bear Pants at Carova Beach



The Little Dog's Day

All in the town were still asleep,
When the sun came up with a shout and a leap.
In the lonely streets unseen by man,
A little dog danced. And the day began.

All his life he’d been good, as far as he could,
And the poor little beast had done all that he should.
But this morning he swore, by Odin and Thor
And the Canine Valhalla–he’d stand it no more!

So his prayer he got granted–to do just what he wanted,
Prevented by none, for the space of one day.
"Jam incipiedo, sedere facebo,"
In dog-Latin he quoth, "Euge! sophos! hurray!"

He fought with the he-dogs, and winked at the she-dogs,
A thing that had neve been heard of before,
"For the stigma of gluttony, I care not a button!" he
Cried, and ate all he could swallow–and more.

He took away sinewy lumps from the shins of old frumps,
And mangled the errand-boys–when he could get’em.
He shammed furious rabies, and bit all the babies,
And followed the cats up the trees, and then ate ‘em!

They thought t’was the devil was holding a revel,
And sent for the parson to drive him away;
For the town never knew such a hullabaloo
As that little dog raised–till the end of the day.

When the blood-red sun had gone burning down,
And the lights were lit in the little town,
Outside, in the gloom of the twilight grey,
The little dog died when he’d had his day.

July 1907, Rupert Brooke


*Jam incipiebo = Now we're on our way
*sedere facebo = I'll make them sit up
*Euge = roughly, applause
*sophos = wisdom (higher or lower, worldly or spiritual)