April 30, 2008: from Five-Finger Exercises, T.S. Eliot
from Five-Finger Exercises
T.S. Eliot
How unpleasant to meet Mr. Eliot!
With his features of clerical cut,
And his brow so grim
And his mouth so prim
And his conversation, so nicely
Restricted to What Precisely
And If and Perhaps and But.
How unpleasant to meet Mr. Eliot!
With a bobtail cur
In a coat of fur
And a porpentine cat
And a wopsical hat:
How unpleasant to meet Mr. Eliot!
(Whether his mouth be open or shut).
[As usual, we end on T.S. Eliot, my best and always. This is the fun Eliot, spoofing Edward Lear, the nonsense poet. I like him poking fun at himself, wryly self-aware of his own image after complicated, somber poems like The Waste Land and Four Quartets, and the rhythm of this is so infectious. For more great Eliot poems, see below.]
A year ago: Journey of the Magi, T.S. Eliot
Two years ago: Preludes, T.S. Eliot
Three years ago: A Song for Simeon, T.S. Eliot
