The cur foretells the knell of parting day; The loafing herd winds slowly o'er the lea; The wise man homewards plods;
I only stay To fiddle-faddle in a minor key.
Composition date is unknown - the above date represents the first publication date.
The lyrical form of this poem is abab.
Bierce's deadpan parody of the opening of Thomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.
Elegy, n.
A composition in verse, in which, without employing any of the methods of humor, the writer aims to produce in the reader's mind the dampest kind of dejection.
The most famous English example begins somewhat like this:
