Jim, I love rhyme and don’t mind a dash of archaism, but my dummed-down modern head lacks the patience and navigation skills needed for this poem. After reading the first sentence several times slowly, I decided it must mean something like “Worry won’t get you anywhere if you’re not willing to use your head.” I don’t think I can even paraphrase the second sentence—especially the bit about asking the gods to believe.
In the third sentence, I guess a poet who’s always been too cowardly to rhyme is being urged to rhyme boldly in the face of all those who disapprove of the practice. For L9-10, I’d suggest:
When, all your musing days, you’ve not been brave (or When, all your days, you’ve never once been brave)
and soon must burn or molder in the grave,
I’d also replace the ellipsis with a colon. Ellipses usually stand in for something left out, while colons are right-pointing arrows.
|
Threaded Mode
