A SINGING LESSON

By Algernon Charles Swinburne

Far-fetched and dear-bought, as the proverb rehearses,

Is good, or was held so, for ladies: but nought

In a song can be good if the turn of the verse is

Far-fetched and dear-bought.

As the turn of a wave should it sound, and the thought

Ring smooth, and as light as the spray that disperses

Be the gleam of the words for the garb thereof wrought.

Let the soul in it shine through the sound as it pierces

Men's hearts with possession of music unsought;

For the bounties of song are no jealous god's mercies,

Far-fetched and dear-bought.