Poets should not reason: Let them sing!Argument is treason -- Bells should ring.
Statements none, nor questions; Gnomic words.Spirit-cries, suggestions, Like the birds.
He may use deduction Who must preach;He may praise instruction Who must teach;
But the poet duly Fills his partWhen the song bursts truly From his heart.
For no purpose springing; For no pelf:He must do the singing For itself.
Not in lines austerely Let him build;Not the surface merely Let him gild.
Fearless, uninvited, Like a spring.Opal-words, inlighted, Let him sing.
As the leaf grows sunward Song must grow;As the stream flows onward Song must flow.
Useless? Ay, -- for measure; Roses die,But their breath gives pleasure -- God knows why!
