 | The Poems of John Clare |  |
345
BRAGGART
With careful step to keep his balance upHe reels on warily along the street,
Slabbering at mouth and with a staggering stoop
Mutters an angry look at all he meets.
Bumptious and vain and proud, he shoulders up,
And would be something if he knew but how;
To any man on earth he will not stoop
But cracks of work, of horses, and of plough.
Proud of the foolish talk, the ale he quaffs,
He never heeds the insult loud that laughs:
With rosy maid he tries to joke and play—
Who shrugs and nettles deep his pomp and pride,
And calls him drunken beast and runs away—
King to himself and fool to all beside.
| The Poems of John Clare | |