The Works of Tennyson The Eversley Edition: Annotated by Alfred, Lord Tennyson: Edited by Hallam, Lord Tennyson |
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LITERARY SQUABBLES. |
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| VII. |
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 | The Works of Tennyson |  |
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LITERARY SQUABBLES.
Ah God! the petty fools of rhyme
That shriek and sweat in pigmy wars
Before the stony face of Time,
And look'd at by the silent stars:
That shriek and sweat in pigmy wars
Before the stony face of Time,
And look'd at by the silent stars:
Who hate each other for a song,
And do their little best to bite
And pinch their brethren in the throng,
And scratch the very dead for spite:
And do their little best to bite
And pinch their brethren in the throng,
And scratch the very dead for spite:
And strain to make an inch of room
For their sweet selves, and cannot hear
The sullen Lethe rolling doom
On them and theirs and all things here:
For their sweet selves, and cannot hear
The sullen Lethe rolling doom
On them and theirs and all things here:
When one small touch of Charity
Could lift them nearer God-like state
Than if the crowded Orb should cry
Like those who cried Diana great:
Could lift them nearer God-like state
Than if the crowded Orb should cry
Like those who cried Diana great:
And I too, talk, and lose the touch
I talk of. Surely, after all,
The noblest answer unto such
Is perfect stillness when they brawl.
I talk of. Surely, after all,
The noblest answer unto such
Is perfect stillness when they brawl.
| The Works of Tennyson | |