I'll fish my headstone out from deep-wood stream,
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A jagged shape with smooth'd face, fit to gleam
Beneath the moon, beneath it I, asleep.
"Thro' sunn'd and shaded climates he did creep
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And glow'd and learn'd or sank and spurn'd in each:
Clean Neptune's wave swept trash across the beach
Or divers sin bred genius in dark house—
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Fair golden ringlet troubl'd by a louse
Or practis'd passion playing Pluto's lays.
His poetry the laws of men obeys!
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He loves all people, rats, and dogs;
He steps on bridges, rocks, and logs;
He sings, not knowing how or why;
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He makes a laugh; he takes a cry;
He'll do it over, by and by—
O! Lives enjoy'd do never die."