Literature Network » Herman Melville » John Marr and Other Poems » The Bench of Boors

The Bench of Boors

In bed I muse on Tenier's boors,
Embrowned and beery losels all;
      A wakeful brain
      Elaborates pain:
Within low doors the slugs of boors
Laze and yawn and doze again.
In dreams they doze, the drowsy boors,
Their hazy hovel warm and small:
      Thought's ampler bound
      But chill is found:
Within low doors the basking boors
Snugly hug the ember-mound.
Sleepless, I see the slumberous boors
Their blurred eyes blink, their eyelids fall:
      Thought's eager sight
      Aches--overbright!
Within low doors the boozy boors
Cat-naps take in pipe-bowl light.

Literature Network » Herman Melville » John Marr and Other Poems » The Bench of Boors