The Mind

The Bench of Boors

by Herman Melville 1819–1891

From Timoleon (1891)

The Mind

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.

MLA

Melville, Herman. “The Bench of Boors.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/melville/97/.

Chicago

Melville, Herman. “The Bench of Boors.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/melville/97/.

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