 | The Five Notions |  |
71
THE PUBLIC
Oh, the years we waste and the tears we waste,
And the work of our head and hand
Belong to the Public that doesn't read verse
(And, probably, never will learn to read verse)
Which it does not understand!
And the work of our head and hand
Belong to the Public that doesn't read verse
(And, probably, never will learn to read verse)
Which it does not understand!
A fool there was and his youth he spent
(Even as you and I!)
Concocting rhymes that were excellent
(If the Public had only perceived what he meant)
But the Public can't help its natural bent
(No more than you and I!)
(Even as you and I!)
Concocting rhymes that were excellent
(If the Public had only perceived what he meant)
But the Public can't help its natural bent
(No more than you and I!)
Oh, the toil we lost and the spoil we lost
And the beautiful things we planned
Belong to the Public that doesn't buy verse
(And has made up its mind it will never buy verse)
Which it cannot understand!
And the beautiful things we planned
Belong to the Public that doesn't buy verse
(And has made up its mind it will never buy verse)
Which it cannot understand!
72
The fool was stripped of some foolish pence
(Even as you and I!)
Which he might have foreseen if he hadn't been dense,
But fools, of course, have none too much sense,
And, somehow, they suffer in consequence
(Even as you and I!)
(Even as you and I!)
Which he might have foreseen if he hadn't been dense,
But fools, of course, have none too much sense,
And, somehow, they suffer in consequence
(Even as you and I!)
Oh, it isn't the shame and it isn't the blame
That stings like a white-hot brand—
It's coming to know that your verses won't sell
(Seeing at last that they never can sell)
And beginning to understand!
That stings like a white-hot brand—
It's coming to know that your verses won't sell
(Seeing at last that they never can sell)
And beginning to understand!
A fool there was and he wrote with care
(Even as you and I!)
And he carried his work to a publisher
(Who gave him an estimate then and there),
And he dreams, at times, there are profits to share
(Even as you and I!)
(Even as you and I!)
And he carried his work to a publisher
(Who gave him an estimate then and there),
And he dreams, at times, there are profits to share
(Even as you and I!)
| The Five Notions | |