Bat, Bat, Come Under my Hat
Bat, Bat, Come Under my Hat
Original Text
Selected Poems of Sir Charles G. D. Roberts (Toronto: Ryerson, 1936): 19. PS 8485 O22A17 Robarts Library.
1Twelve good friends
2Passed under her hat,
3And devil a one of them
4Knew where he was at.
5Had they but known,
6Then had they known all things, --
7The littleness of great things,
8The unmeasured immensity of small things.
9They had known the Where and the Why,
10The When and the Wherefore,
11And how the Eternal
12Conceived the Eternal, and therefore
13Beginning began the Beginning;
14They had apprehended
15The ultimate virtue of sinning;
16They had caught the whisper
18Piercing the walls
19Of heavy flesh that immure us.
20But if they had known,
21Then had there been no mystery;
22And Life had been poorer,
23And laughter unsurer,
24And the shadow of death securer,
25By lack of this brief history.
Notes
17] Vega: brightest star in the constellation Lyra.
Arcturus: bright star in the constellation Boötes. Back to Line
Arcturus: bright star in the constellation Boötes. Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1934
Publication Notes
The Icebreg and Other Poems (1934)
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
RPO 1998.
Rhyme