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Sunday, December 30, 2007

Lone Dog by Irene Rutherford Mcleod

I'm a lean dog, a keen dog, a wild dog, and lone;
I'm a rough dog, a tough dog, hunting on my own;
I'm a bad dog, a mad dog, teasing silly sheep;
I love to sit and bay the moon, to keep fat souls from sleep.

I'll never be a lap dog, licking dirty feet,
A sleek dog, a meek dog, cringing for my meat,
Not for me the fireside, the well-filled plate,
But shut door, and sharp stone, and cuff and kick, and hate.

Not for me the other dogs, running by my side,
Some have run a short while, but none of them would bide.
O mine is still the lone trail, the hard trail, the best,
Wide wind, and wild stars, and hunger of the quest!

9 comments:

  1. im using this 4 my home work

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  2. I'm using this poem for my homework toooooooooooooooo

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  3. im using it 2!(4 mi h/w)

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  4. I had remembered most of the words to this poem from elementary school in the late 1950s or early 1960s, although when I learned the poem it was set to music - so I always had assumed it was a song. Perhaps the teacher heard or made up the song part, but it's nice to finally have all the lyrics again after 50 or so years. Thanks. Andrew

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  5. I have to learn this poem for my english teacher,I love this poem!!

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  6. It's a really good poem; I learned it when I was in middle school.

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  7. I learnt this poem in my English class in 6th grade, in 1961 !!

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  8. I liked the poem when I was younger, and I like it still. But what is the lone dog's use of saying what she says?

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