The
child is father of the man, Bill spake,
as Sammy totterd on his shoulders, whilst
beneath Will's dirty shoes another stood
& held the younger's ankles, and so on,
so long, & down, & all the one-way down,
until the well-lickd boots of multitudes
devolved to plethoras of ruder footwear,
&, at the last, nude shoulder & bare heel;
yet whither went the longfaced oliphaunt,
the hearty tortoise, slow & shell-encased ?
queried Midway, his quhite-browd roving I
attending to the sunbaked hides of bronze
of college girls, who capered 'round about,
in & around the lake, whereto they flockt
when Spring did break upon the London Bridge,
and under, where expatriated blocks
were markd & reassembled faire & square.
Meanwhile did Reynolds scolde & laugh at him
who shyly and most slyly eyed them there
& said, O lurching dosser, look away,
for Heaven's sake, for tho thine hoary age
prickleth an interest in each henna's curl
& every curve & slope that wandereth
yet art thou impotent & shrivelld up,
crippled, & Mr. Thomas nothing worth
save| Yes, I interrupted, with my hand
awave, and eyes thereafter readjusted
forward, & on the straight & narrow way
my Lord hath put me, tho' from wich I turn
in creaturely abandon night & day,
& w/ self-willd intent & tongue let loose|
The number ! Reynolds interjected, he
being the voice of Reason, & Midway
wast shaken from his stupor, from his vain-
glorious self-reflection, GOD his witness,
and said, tho they be yonge & tender yet
they are of age, wich is to say not under,
in these United States, wich is the number
we have arrived @: arbitrary ? line
we cannot cross, which minds us of the Cross
lest any should consider this in vain:
a simple jest, tho' we, in motley dight,
caper, a fool without a king or court,
the amorous looking-glass besmeard whereon
we wrote, I love you GOD & Thine own Sonne
Whom Thou hast giv'n so that a wretch like us
might benefit of Thy Amazing Grace
& sit in comfort whilst far greater blood
is spilld upon the warfields of the world
that we might sing their honor & their memory :
Virgins with rifles , scarcely old enough
to raise a beard yet old enough to raise
a carbine, yet too young to raise a drink.
At West Point, where a major pulld me forth
into the cold & brilliant light, they learn
the craft of killing, & the art of dying,
& yet by law art deemd too greene to bend
an elbow. There's yr fine American logic
scoffd Reynolds, ever of the weather eye
& Quaker heart, ore was it me, he queried,
& turnd a full three-sixty in the quad
which was as quiet as a hearth at Christmas,
wich was to say, at Yule (w/ reservations ),
speaking of which, now let us tip ovr hat
to one who walkd upright & as a man:
magnificent in black & suave of pate,
whose voice on celluloid wast withovt match
who one time spake as great King Solomon
also: so let it be written, so let it be done ,
he sprach erstwhile, in nineteen-fifty-six,
when Charlton, alpha-mega, saw the Hand
of GOD write in the stone the Decalogue,
which to this day rebuketh the straying hart
& keepeth the right man on the garden path.
11.20.13
as Sammy totterd on his shoulders, whilst
beneath Will's dirty shoes another stood
& held the younger's ankles, and so on,
so long, & down, & all the one-way down,
until the well-lickd boots of multitudes
devolved to plethoras of ruder footwear,
&, at the last, nude shoulder & bare heel;
yet whither went the longfaced oliphaunt,
the hearty tortoise, slow & shell-encased ?
queried Midway, his quhite-browd roving I
attending to the sunbaked hides of bronze
of college girls, who capered 'round about,
in & around the lake, whereto they flockt
when Spring did break upon the London Bridge,
and under, where expatriated blocks
were markd & reassembled faire & square.
Meanwhile did Reynolds scolde & laugh at him
who shyly and most slyly eyed them there
& said, O lurching dosser, look away,
for Heaven's sake, for tho thine hoary age
prickleth an interest in each henna's curl
& every curve & slope that wandereth
yet art thou impotent & shrivelld up,
crippled, & Mr. Thomas nothing worth
save| Yes, I interrupted, with my hand
awave, and eyes thereafter readjusted
forward, & on the straight & narrow way
my Lord hath put me, tho' from wich I turn
in creaturely abandon night & day,
& w/ self-willd intent & tongue let loose|
The number ! Reynolds interjected, he
being the voice of Reason, & Midway
wast shaken from his stupor, from his vain-
glorious self-reflection, GOD his witness,
and said, tho they be yonge & tender yet
they are of age, wich is to say not under,
in these United States, wich is the number
we have arrived @: arbitrary ? line
we cannot cross, which minds us of the Cross
lest any should consider this in vain:
a simple jest, tho' we, in motley dight,
caper, a fool without a king or court,
the amorous looking-glass besmeard whereon
we wrote, I love you GOD & Thine own Sonne
Whom Thou hast giv'n so that a wretch like us
might benefit of Thy Amazing Grace
& sit in comfort whilst far greater blood
is spilld upon the warfields of the world
that we might sing their honor & their memory :
Virgins with rifles , scarcely old enough
to raise a beard yet old enough to raise
a carbine, yet too young to raise a drink.
At West Point, where a major pulld me forth
into the cold & brilliant light, they learn
the craft of killing, & the art of dying,
& yet by law art deemd too greene to bend
an elbow. There's yr fine American logic
scoffd Reynolds, ever of the weather eye
& Quaker heart, ore was it me, he queried,
& turnd a full three-sixty in the quad
which was as quiet as a hearth at Christmas,
wich was to say, at Yule (w/ reservations ),
speaking of which, now let us tip ovr hat
to one who walkd upright & as a man:
magnificent in black & suave of pate,
whose voice on celluloid wast withovt match
who one time spake as great King Solomon
also: so let it be written, so let it be done ,
he sprach erstwhile, in nineteen-fifty-six,
when Charlton, alpha-mega, saw the Hand
of GOD write in the stone the Decalogue,
which to this day rebuketh the straying hart
& keepeth the right man on the garden path.
11.20.13
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