The Poetry Corner

The Fur Coat (The Rocky Road To Dublin)

By James Stephens

I walked out in my Coat of Pride, I looked about on every side, And said the mountains should not be Just where they were, and that the sea Was badly placed, and that the beech Should be an oak, and then from each I turned in dignity as if They were not there: I sniffed a sniff, And climbed upon my sunny shelf, And sneezed a while, and scratched myself.