Sheep Ain't Poetical

While reading another Patrick O'Brian novel (The Ionian Mission, for those who care), I came across a humorous conversation between Jack Aubrey and William Babbington, in which Jack states "But sheep ain't poetical, whereas horses are." This got me thinking, and so, a whimisical poem on sheep.

Sheep ain’t poetical,

whereas horses are.

For one, they lack

equine splendor and pomp,

which is hardly their fault,

but they don’t even try

to make up for natural deficiencies.

Have you ever seen a sheep,

ram or ewe try to take

a hedge at full gallop?

Obstinate, in the extreme,

and pretty dumb,

as they are wooly

between their ears.

Mostly, sheep just graze,

which doesn’t help their case,

horses do that as well.

Sometimes, they get sheared,

which is useful,

but poetry isn't useful,

so being sheared isn’t poetical either.

Sometimes though, they go astray,

which is pretty much the only time

they are fit subject for poetry.

The Psalmist agreed, and one or two

of the prophets,

and they were published

in the Bible, and you can’t

say fairer than that.

Maybe some of you are thinking,

but horses are useful

for getting from one place to another.

No, they aren’t.

Cars are far better, trains too,

which makes horses

somewhat outdated,

and therefore highly poetical.