the clever and the dull

[Gabrielle Dean]

They Could Not Tell Me Who Should Be My Lord 

Edwin Muir

 

They could not tell me who should be my lord, 

But I could read from every word they said 

The common thought: Perhaps that lord was dead, 

And only a story now and a wandering word. 

 

How could I follow a word or serve a fable, 

They asked me. ‘Here are lords a-plenty. Take 

service with one, if only for your sake, 

Yet better be your own master if you're able.' 

 

I would rather scour the roads, a masterless dog, 

Than take such service, be a public fool, 

Obstreperous or tongue-tied, a good rogue, 

Than be with those, the clever and the dull, 

Who say that lord is dead; when I hear 

Daily his dying whisper in my ear.