facile insolence towards the famous
i was reading WH Auden writing about the death of WB Yeats
not bad said i with a weary smile
for i was in the mood to disparage the dead greats
it hurts them not but it helps to pass the time
not bad said i with a short laugh
and it seemed a strange and fitting epitaph
for two considered king of the road
when knickerbockers were considered a la mode
perhaps i should temper this vain exultancy
with some dull reference to their immortality
but i don't think that applies
the great poet strives and self promotes and dies
his flesh his verse his bones consign to ground
i'm not a great poet but i'm still around
not bad said i with a weary smile
for i was in the mood to disparage the dead greats
it hurts them not but it helps to pass the time
not bad said i with a short laugh
and it seemed a strange and fitting epitaph
for two considered king of the road
when knickerbockers were considered a la mode
perhaps i should temper this vain exultancy
with some dull reference to their immortality
but i don't think that applies
the great poet strives and self promotes and dies
his flesh his verse his bones consign to ground
i'm not a great poet but i'm still around
posted by heelers | 2:25 AM
1 Comments:
Yer too modest James :)
I'm not convinced it doesn't hurt the dead to be disparaged - I wrestled a little once with Aristotle - but maybe they deserve it anyway.
For some bizarre reason your last couple of lines put me in mind of a small parking area in Edinburgh, beneath which John Knox is buried.
Not a poet, but where his bones rest is true to his committment to the people.
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