WHY SHOULD I
With borrowed plumes why should I decked my bride
When beauty unadorned in her excels
The glossy glory of invented spells?
To sing her grace why should I need a guide
When in her wondrous mind and form reside
The spring of all the muse that ever swells
Within my soul and other passions quells?
If yon ethereal light is cast aside
Can there be life and beauty on the earth?
If but the flower fair be hid away
How can the brush a perfect picture paint?
The bloom and gleamy orb possess the worth
That art inspires, and not the dye or clay:
Why then should I with stolen rhymes her taint?
D. J. B. JAGANAYAGAM (1930)
FREE-WHEEL (Collection of Poems)
First Published in 1950
Second Edition: 6-8-1966, Batticaloa.
Some Opinions on the 1950 Edition
R.H. Wickremasinghe, C.C.S., M.A. (Oxon):
“I think some of the poems excellent. English poetry I have always been greatly interested in and I hope you will write more in the future”
Fr. T. F. Long, O.M.I., M.A. (Cantab):
“This is poetry as distinct from facile versifying ‘More o’ that strain, an it please you’”
Review in the Messenger,
“Witness the magnificence of the concluding sestet…
One feels here is the authentic voice of the true poet”
Review in the Times of
“This
Printed at the Catholic Press, Batticaloa.
