Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ON THE DEATH OF A FAVOURITE OLD SPANIEL, by ROBERT SOUTHEY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: And they have drowned thee then at last! Poor phillis Last Line: Of their own charity, may envy thee! Subject(s): Aging; Animals; Death - Animals; Dogs; Drowning; Future Life; Grief; Loss; Retribution; Eternity; After Life; Sorrow; Sadness | ||||||||
AND they have drowned thee then at last! poor Phillis! The burthen of old age was heavy on thee, And yet thou shouldst have lived! What though thine eye Was dim, and watched no more with eager joy The wonted call that on thy dull sense sunk With fruitless repetition, the warm sun Might still have cheered thy slumber: thou didst love To lick the hand that fed thee, and though past Youth's active season, even life itself Was comfort. Poor old friend! how earnestly Would I have pleaded for thee! thou hadst been Still the companion of my childish sports; And as I roamed o'er Avon's woody cliffs, From many a day-dream has thy short quick bark Recalled my wandering soul. I have beguiled Often the melancholy hours at school, Soured by some little tyrant, with the thought Of distant home, and I remembered then Thy faithful fondness: for not mean the joy, Returning at the pleasant holidays, I felt from thy dumb welcome. Pensively Sometimes have I remarked thy slow decay, Feeling myself changed too, and musing much On many a sad vicissitude of life! Ah, poor companion! when thou followedst last Thy master's parting footsteps to the gate Which closed for ever on him, thou didst lose Thy truest friend, and none was left to plead For the old age of brute fidelity! But fare thee well! Mine is no narrow creed; And He who gave thee being did not frame The mystery of life to be the sport Of merciless man! There is another world For all that live and movea better one! Where the proud bipeds, who would fain confine Infinite Goodness to the little bounds Of their own charity, may envy thee! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONOMA FIRE by JANE HIRSHFIELD AS THE SPARKS FLY UPWARDS by JOHN HOLLANDER WHAT GREAT GRIEF HAS MADE THE EMPRESS MUTE by JUNE JORDAN CHAMBER MUSIC: 19 by JAMES JOYCE DIRGE AT THE END OF THE WOODS by LEONIE ADAMS BISHOP BRUNO by ROBERT SOUTHEY |
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