It doth appear to me that in those times The Muses quaffed not sparkling wine, but grog, And that to grow immortal through one’s rhymes Was ’bout as hard as falling off a log. CONSOLATION Shakespeare was not accounted great Shakespeare When good Queen Bess ruled England’s state, So why should I to-day repine Because the laurel is not mine? Perhaps in twenty-ninety-three Folks will begin to talk of me, And somewhere statues may be built Of me, in bronze, perhaps in gilt, And sages full of quips and quirks Will wonder if I wrote my works. So why should I repine to-day Because my brow wears not the bay? SATISFACTION ON READING “NOT ONE DISSATISFIED,” BY WALT WHITMAN ON READING “NOT ONE DISSATISFIED,” BY WALT WHITMAN