I was of late a barren plant, <br />Useless, insignificant, <br />Nor fig, nor grape, nor apple bore, <br />A native of the marshy shore; <br />But, gather'd for poetic use, <br />And plunged into a sable juice, <br />Of which my modicum I sip <br />With narrow mouth and slender lip, <br />At once, although by nature dumb, <br />All eloquent I have become, <br />And speak with fluency untired, <br />As if by Phoebus' self inspired.<br /><br />William Cowper<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/on-the-reed-from-the-greek/
