A Farmer's Picture

🐏A FARMER'S PICTURE🐑


A farmer pursued a puppy
Seeking to make a friend,
But his sweats did seem unworthy,
Because all his strives failed.
⁵ The farmer looked at the mirror,
And saw how worn he was;
The white cub that he hungered for,
Had made his grief get worse.
He took a picture of himself
¹⁰ With which to warn his mind;
It stood in a frame on his shelf,
To draw him from behind,
Because the farmer desired not
To suffer so again.

¹⁵ But when a man's suffering is hot,
He feels a nagging pain;
Yet when the thorn leaves a man's hide,
Time dulls his memory.
Soon the poor farmer nearly died,
²⁰ And looked sick and sorry,
Because he again liked a cat,
And craved to win its love.
Then he recalled his shelved picture,
Taken to counsel him.
²⁵ It held for him a strong lecture
That sounded clear and grim:
‘ Do not pursue when rejected;
It shall drain you of joy.
The hungering shall be affected;
³⁰ It's he that serves as toy.’