Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE TRAINED ASS, by FRANCIS JAMMES


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE TRAINED ASS, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I'm the trained ass, the very ass who can
Last Line: In my nightmare to count the very stars.
Subject(s): Asses & Mules; Labor & Laborers; Pain; Mules; Work; Workers; Suffering; Misery


I'M the trained ass, the very ass who can
Startle the learned, counting like a man.
With whip in hand my master makes me climb
An old, cracked tub and balance for a time.
The plaudits of the crowd his zeal enhance.
So down I step and next am forced to dance.
"Where's Paris?" someone asks. My foot I place
O'er the right spot upon the map of France.
Next: "Ass, survey the circle, face by face,
And stop and with your nodding head point out
Among the audience the most stupid lout."

. . . I obey, quite sure that I make no mistake . . .
My mind, each time he wants to teach me, knows
How the man daily in his ignorance grows.
At night, in the old tent that flaps and jars
Sadly I sleep under the windy sky.
The obsession of knowledge haunts me. And I try
In my nightmare to count the very stars.





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