Jared


 * When Great Dogs Fight

He came from a dead-end world of under breed, A mongrel in his look and his deed.

His head sagged lower than his spine, his jaws Spooned wretchedly, his timid little claws Were gnarls. A fear lurked in his rheumy eye When dwarfing pedigrees paraded by.

Often he saw the bulldog, arrogant and grim, Beside the formidable mastiff; and sight of them Devouring chunks of meat with juices red Needled pangs of hunger in his belly and head.

Sometimes he wimpered at the ponderous gate Until the regal growls shook the estate; Then he would scurry up the avenue, Singeing the hedges with his buttercup hue.

The spool of luckless days unwound, and the** Heard yelps of rage beyond the iron fence And saw the jaws and claws of violence.
 * Izzard cur, accurst dogs and men,

He padded through the gate leaned ajar Maneuvered the slashing arcs of war, Then pounced upon the bone;and winged feet Bore him into the refuge of the street.

A sphinx haunts every age and zone: When great dogs fight, the small dog gets the bone.**

1. My interpretation of this poem is that a stray dog is living on the streets.

2. Some figuritive language in this poem is "and winged feet". That is an example of a metaphor.

3. My poem does not fit a certain catagorie.

4.The mood of my poem is very eerie.

5. I chose this poem because I liked the way it was written and the words it uses.

Picture of stray dog. 6. I chose this picture because it symbolizes the dog in the poem.

7. The author is Melvin B. Tolson. Other poems he has wrote include.... Black Crispus Attucks taught, Us how to die, and Uttererd the verticle. He was born on 1898 and died on 1966.