Poets should not reason:
Let them sing!
Argument is treason -
Bells should ring.
Statements none, nor questions;
Gnomic words.
Spirit-cries, suggestions,
Like the birds.
He may use deduction
Who must preach;
He may praise instruction
Who must teach;
But the poet duly
Fills his part
When the song bursts truly
From his heart.
For no purpose springing;
For no pelf:
He must do the singing
For itself.
Not in lines austerely
Let him build;
Not the surface merely
Let him gild.
Fearless, uninvited,
Like a spring.
Opal-words, inlighted,
Let him sing.
As the leaf grows sunward
Song must grow;
As the stream flows onward
Song must flow.
Useless? Ay, - for measure;
Roses die,
But their breath gives pleasure -
God knows why!
The Useless Ones
John Boyle O'reilly
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Poem topics: breath, god, heart, spring, pleasure, spirit, surface, purpose, reason, teach, poet, measure, stream, song, Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
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