H.W. Wrongfellow: 3 Poems

The Arrow and the Song

I shot an arrow into the air

It fell to the earth I knew not where

Now my quiver is completely bare

For this silly sport, I do not care!

I breathed a song into the air

It fell to the earth I knew not where

This loss is too much to bear

How much longer will this agony wear?

I found an arrow in an old oak

Some poor sap’s I suppose, totally unbroke

I whistled shiftily my lost song

Grabbed the arrow and ran right along!

The Master's Original Poem:  http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173890

     THE GOOD SIDE RISES, THE GOOD SIDE FALLS

   


The good side rises, the good side falls,

     The twinkie sparkles, the tastebud calls;

     Along the pastry-stand damp and brown

     The traveller hastens with a frown,

          And the good side rises, the good side falls.

   
     Darkness settles on mind and the good side crawls,

     The craving, the craving in the mind’s darkness calls;

     The little waves of temptation, with their soft, white curls,

     Efface the resolve in the mind,

          And the good side rises, the good side falls.

     The change in his pocket breaks; as he strides to the stall

     Looks guilty, as the price, the teller calls;

     To the car he returns, resolving again, nevermore

     Pops the twinkie, the sugar rushing to his very core

          And the good side rises, the good side falls.

The Master's Original Poem:  http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173917

HML's Original Poem:  http://www.litscape.com/author/Henry_Wadsworth_Longfellow/Beware.html