Explore "Song: One Hard Look" by Robert Graves on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Small gnats that fly
In hot July
And lodge in sleeping ears, / Can rouse therein / A trumpet's din / With Day-of-Judgement fears.
Small mice at night / Can wake more fright / Than lions at midday. / An urchin small / Torments us all / Who tread his prickly way.
A straw will crack / The camel's back, / To die we need but sip, / So little sand / As fills the hand / Can stop a steaming ship.
One smile relieves / A heart that grieves / Though deadly sad it be, / And one hard look / Can close the book / That lovers love to see --