Classic and Contemporary Poetry
A GRUB STREET RECESSIONAL, by CHRISTOPHER DARLINGTON MORLEY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: O noble gracious english tongue Last Line: The gift of thy simplicity. Alternate Author Name(s): Hall, Galway Subject(s): English Language; Newspapers; Journalism; Journalists | ||||||||
O NOBLE gracious English tongue Whose fibers we so sadly twist, For caitiff measures he has sung Have pardon on the journalist. For mumbled meter, leaden pun, For slipshod rhyme, and lazy word, Have pity on this graceless one -- Thy mercy on Thy servant, Lord! The metaphors and tropes depart, Our little clippings fade and bleach: There is no virtue and no art Save in straightforward Saxon speech. Yet not in ignorance or spite, Nor with Thy noble past forgot We sinned: indeed we had to write To keep a fire beneath the pot. Then grant that in the coming time, With inky hand and polished sleeve, In lucid prose or honest rhyme Some worthy task we may achieve -- Some pinnacled and marbled phrase, Some lyric, breaking like the sea, That we may learn, not hoping praise, The gift of Thy simplicity. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE CIRCULATION OF NEWSPAPERS RISES GREATLY IN TIME OF WAR by EVE MERRIAM IT IS DANGEROUS TO READ NEWSPAPERS by MARGARET ATWOOD METAMORPHOSES: 3. THE RE-BIRTH OF VENUS by GEOFFREY HILL THE INTERVIEW by DAVID IGNATOW THE MORNING STAR by PRIMUS ST. JOHN ANIMAL CRACKERS by CHRISTOPHER DARLINGTON MORLEY |
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