A Parodist's Apology

A Parodist's Apology

Original Text
James Kenneth Stephen, Lapsus Calami, new edn. (Cambridge: Macmillan and Bowes, 1891), p. 82. PR 5473 S4L3 1891 cop. 2 Robarts Library.
2  'Tis with eyes that with you have often wept:
3You have oftener left me smiling or frowning,
4  Than any beside, one bard except.
5But once you spoke to me, storm-tongued poet,
6  A trivial word in an idle hour;
7But thrice I looked on your face and the glow it
8  Bore from the flame of the inward power.
9But you'd many a friend you never knew of,
10  Your words lie hid in a hundred hearts,
11And thousands of hands that you've grasped but few of
12  Would be raised to shield you from slander's darts.
13For you lived in the sight of the land that owned you,
14  You faced the trial, and stood the test:
16  You have spoken your message and earned your rest.

Notes

1] Robert Browning (1812-89), English poet. Back to Line
15] cairn: pile of stones laid down as a memorial. Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1891
Publication Notes
Pall Mall Gazette June 1891
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
RPO 1998.
Rhyme