Prehistoric Smith, Quaternary Epoch, Post-Pliocene Period
David Law Proudfit 1842 – 1897
A man sat on a rock and sought
Refreshment from his thumb;
A dinotherium wandered by
And scared him some.
His name was Smith. The kind of rock
He sat upon was shale.
One feature quite distinguished him,
He had a tail.
The danger past, he fell into
A revery austere;
While with his tail he whisked a fly
From off his ear.
"Mankind deteriorates," he said,
"Grows weak and incomplete;
And each new generation seems
Yet more effete.
"Nature abhors imperfect work,
And on it lays her ban;
And all creation must despise
A tailless man.
"But fashion's dictates rule supreme,
Ignoring common sense;
And fashion says, to dock your tail
Is just immense.
"And children now come in the world
With half a tail or less;
Too stumpy to convey a thought,
And meaningless.
"It kills expression. How can one
Set forth, in words that drag,
The best emotions of the soul,
Without a wag?"
Sadly he mused upon the world,
Its follies and its woes;
Then wiped the moisture from his eyes,
And blew his nose.
But clothed in earrings, Mrs. Smith
Came wandering down the dale;
And, smiling, Mr. Smith arose,
And wagged his tail.
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:02 min read
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Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABCB XDXD XXCX XEXE XFGF XHDH IXAX XJXJ IKGK XDKD |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,087 |
Words | 210 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"Prehistoric Smith, Quaternary Epoch, Post-Pliocene Period" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/54969/prehistoric-smith,-quaternary-epoch,-post-pliocene-period>.
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