“The Fool’s Song” by William Carlos Williams

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend April 22, 2017   The Fool's Song   William Carlos Williams

I tried to put a bird in a cage.                 O fool that I am!          For the bird was Truth. Sing merrily, Truth: I tried to put                  Truth in a cage!   And when I had the bird in the cage,                  O fool that I am!           Why, it broke my pretty cage. Sing merrily, Truth: I tried to put                   Truth in a cage!   And when the bird was flown from the cage,                   O fool that I am!             Why, I had nor bird nor cage. Sing merrily, Truth: I tried to put                    Truth in a cage!              Heigh-ho! Truth in a cage.            This poem is in the public domain. About This Poem   "The Fool's Song" was published in The Tempers (Elkin Mathews, 1913).   William Carlos Williams was born on September 17, 1883, in Rutherford, New Jersey. His books include Spring and All (Contact Publishing Co., 1923) and the epic Paterson (New Directions Publishing, 1963). He died in 1963. Poetry by Williams   Selected Poems (New Directions Publishing, 1985) "The Exposed Nest" by Robert Frost "Garden Abstract" by Hart Crane "Tender Buttons [Milk]" by Gertrude Stein Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. If you enjoy Poem-a-Day, please consider making a donation to help make it possible. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038