Social Commentaries
On Oxford
From Posthumous and Fugitive Poems
The Gothic looks solemn,
The plain Doric column
Supports an old Bishop and Crosier;
The mouldering arch,
Shaded o'er by a larch
Stands next door to Wilson the Hosier.
Vice — that is, by turns, —
O'er pale faces mourns
The black tassell'd trencher and common hat ;
The Chantry boy sings,
The Steeple-bell rings,
And as for the Chancellor — dommat.
There are plenty of trees,
And plenty of ease,
And plenty of fat deer for Parsons ;
And when it is venison,
Short is the benison, —
Then each on a leg or thigh fastens.
Cite this poem
MLA
Keats, John. “On Oxford.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/keats/73/.
Chicago
Keats, John. “On Oxford.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/keats/73/.
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