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A robin with no Christian name ran through
The Robin-Anthem which was all it knew,
And rustling flowers for some third party waited
To say which pairs, if any, should get mated.
Not one of them was capable of lying,
There was not one which knew that it was dying
Or could have with a rhythm or a rhyme
Assumed responsibility for time.
Let them leave language to their lonely betters
Who count some days and long for certain letters;
We, too, make noises when we laugh or weep:
Words are for those with promises to keep.
1950
Copyright 1976
Wystan Hugh Auden
1907-1973
In the prison of his days
Teach the free man how to praise
On Auden's grave marker, in Kirchstetten, lower Austria
| go to "The Watershed" | go to "The Secret Agent" |
| go to "Lullaby" | go to "The More Loving One" |
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