Patrick Kavanagh

Untitled (Listen, and if you do 2)

Listen, and if you do
Do not listen that you may find
Something that might make you stronger, braver, purer
In body and mind
Do not listen with greedy ears
Lest the knowledge you get prove
A load of indigestable [sic] experience
The refuse from the mine of love.
Do not try to take anything
That is not yours by right
Lean back in your chairs and be simple and vain
In foolish delight.
The poet is not greater than the listener
And whoso hears his song
Walks with him among the unwritten fields
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