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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ON THE LINE, by LESLIE NELSON JENNINGS
First Line: Nobody knows, now, when he first began
Last Line: Who could keep silent counsel when he chose.
First Line: Nobody knows, now, when he first began
Last Line: Who could keep silent counsel when he chose.
Nobody knows, now, when he first began
To pass from life to legend, how he turned
Into this "Portrait of a Gentleman,"
Impeccable, aloof and unconcerned.
Romney or Reynolds would have painted him
In wig and ermine: as a landed squire,
Conscious of his aristocratic limb,
Fastidious in each trifle of attire.
But we are come upon an age too crass
For flowered waistcoats. If he lives at all
It will not be in any looking-glass
Held up to our vainglory! To forestall
Huckster historians, call him one of those
Who could keep silent counsel when he chose.
Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!
Other Poems of Interest...
CONCLUSION by LESLIE NELSON JENNINGS
DISINHERITED by LESLIE NELSON JENNINGS
HIGHWAYS by LESLIE NELSON JENNINGS
INSCRIPTION by LESLIE NELSON JENNINGS
MENAGE by LESLIE NELSON JENNINGS
HOLY POEMS: 3 by GEORGE BARKER
APRIL'S LAMBS by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES
HIPPOLYTUS TEMPORIZES by HILDA DOOLITTLE
LOST LOVE by ROBERT RANKE GRAVES