Early Rising (John Godfrey Saxe)

I had to be somewhere for a test this morning at 8 am. Thus, I had to wake up much too early for my taste and despite drinking many caffeinated things am very very tired this evening. I shall go to sleep extra early tonight, for sure. Based on the day's events I knew with certainty which poem I was going to write about tonight. Lucky for me, someone has put it online. The poem is the second one on the page.

I don't know when this poem was written, but based on the language I can assume it was quite some time ago. I like that the sentiments in the poem are so modern, despite the language. I imagine that John Saxe had been rudely awakened from a pleasant slumber and wrote this as a kind-of protest.

I like how he reasoned his argument. How it goes from great literary figures to Man to God. He pulls all the punches to convince people to his side. It is probably due to the times in which he wrote this poem that he uses such a formal rhyme scheme. Hopefully, he didn't hope to use rhyme and make a serious point. If this is a legit rant, I think he failed. It is so comic. I cannot read this poem without a smile and some laughter. "Blast the man..who first invented...that artificial cut-off, Early Rising!" Hee!

Favorite line: "'GOD bless the man who first invented sleep!'/ So Sancho Panza said, and so say I"