Lone Dog
I’m a keen dog, a keen dog, a wild dog, and alone;
I’m a rough dog, a tough dog hunting on my own;
I’m a bad dog, a mad dog, teasing silly sheep;
I love to sit and bay at the moon, to keep fat souls from sleep.
I’ll never be a lap dog, licking dirty feet,
A sleek dog, a meek dog, cringing for my meat;
Not for me the fireside, the well filled plate,
But shut door, the sharp stone, cuff and kick and hate.
Not for me the other dogs, running by my side;
Some have run short while, but none of them would bide;
O mine is still the lone trail, the hard trail, the best,
Wide wind, and wild stars and the hunger of the quest!
– Irene Rutherfold Mcleod (1891-1968)
Sung by John Diamond
Date of Song’s Composition: October 28, 2003
Commentary: Irene R. Mcleod was a successful British poet, writer, editor, who was also prominent in the women’s suffrage movement. Several volumes of her own poetry appeared between 1915 and 1945, including Six O’Clock and After: And Other Rhymes for Children, from which this much-loved poem is taken.