Oh you who are shy of the popular eye, <br />(Though most of us seek to survive it) <br />Just think of the goldfish who wanted to die <br />Because she could never be private. <br />There are pebbles and reeds for aquarium needs <br />Of eel and of pike who are bold fish; <br />But who gives a thought to a sheltering spot <br />For the sensitive soul of a goldfish? <br /> <br />So the poor little thing swam around in a ring, <br />In a globe of a crystalline crudity; <br />Swam round and swam round, but no refuge she found <br />From the public display of her nudity; <br />No weedy retreat for a cloister discreet, <br />From the eye of the mob to exempt her; <br />Can you wonder she paled, and her appetite failed, <br />Till even a fly couldn't tempt her? <br /> <br />I watched with dismay as she faded away; <br />Each day she grew slimmer and slimmer. <br />From an amber hat burned, to a silver she turned <br />Then swiftly was dimmer and dimmer. <br />No longer she gleamed, like a spectre she seemed, <br />One morning I anxiously sought her: <br />I only could stare - she no longer was there . . . <br />She'd simply dissolved in the water. <br /> <br />So when you behold bright fishes of gold, <br />In globes of immaculate purity; <br />Just think how they'd be more contented and free <br />If you gave them a little obscurity. <br />And you who make laws, get busy because <br />You can brighten he lives of untold fish, <br />If its sadness you note, and a measure promote <br />To Ensure Private Life For The Goldfish.<br /><br />Robert William Service<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/privacy/
