Two voices are there: one is of the deep;
It learns the storm cloud’s thunderous melody,
Now roars, now murmurs with the changing sea,
Now birdlike pipes, now closes soft in sleep;
And one is of an old half-witted sheep
Who bleats articulate monotony,
And indicates that two and one are three,
That grass is green, lakes damp, and mountains steep:
And, Wordsworth, both are thine: at certain times,
Forth from the heart of thy melodious rhymes
The form and pressure of high thoughts will burst;
At other times–good Lord! I’d rather be
Quite unacquainted with the A, B, C,
Than write such hopeless rubbish as thy worst.
(James Kenneth Stephen)
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Based on Topics: Sleep PoemsBased on Keywords: unacquainted, bleats, indicates, birdlike, half-witted