 | The Poems of Robert Bloomfield |  |
Scarce had the voices ceased, when forth there came
Another candidate for village fame:
By gratitude to Heaven, by honest pride,
Impell'd to rise and cast his doubts aside,
A sturdy yeoman, button'd to the throat,
Faced the whole ring, and shook his leathern coat.
“I have a tale of private life to tell,
“'Tis all of self and home, I know it well;
“In love and honour's cause I would be strong,
“Mine is a father's tale, perhaps too long,
“For fathers, when a duteous child's the theme,
“Can talk a summer's sun down, and then dream
“Of retrospective joys with hearts that glow
“With feelings such as parents only know.”
Another candidate for village fame:
By gratitude to Heaven, by honest pride,
Impell'd to rise and cast his doubts aside,
A sturdy yeoman, button'd to the throat,
Faced the whole ring, and shook his leathern coat.
“I have a tale of private life to tell,
“'Tis all of self and home, I know it well;
“In love and honour's cause I would be strong,
“Mine is a father's tale, perhaps too long,
“For fathers, when a duteous child's the theme,
“Can talk a summer's sun down, and then dream
“Of retrospective joys with hearts that glow
“With feelings such as parents only know.”
| The Poems of Robert Bloomfield | |