Excerpt from The Poems of John Godfrey Saxe The Poet's License. The Poet's License! - Some there are Who hold the false opinion 'T is but a meagre privilege Confined to Art's dominion; The right to rhyme quite unrestrained By certain rigid fetters Which bind the colder men of prose Within the realm of letters. Ah no! - I deem 't is something more, And something vastly higher, To which the proudest bard on earth May worthily aspire. The Poet's License! - 't is the right, Within the rule of duty, To look on all delightful things Throughout the world of beauty. To gaze with rapture at the stars That in the skies are glowing; To see the gems of perfect dye That in the woods are growing, - And more than sage astronomer, And more than learned florist, To read the glorious homilies Of Firmament a