The Useless Ones

Poet 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 part 
When 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!