The Wall

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“What a dear old wall that is that runs along by the river there! I never pass it without feeling better for the sight of it. Such a mellow, bright, sweet old wall; what a charming picture it would make, with the lichen creeping here, and the moss growing there, a shy young vine peeping over the top at this spot, to see what is going on upon the busy river, and the sober old ivy clustering a little farther down! There are fifty shades and tints and hues in every ten yards of that old wall. . . . It looks so peaceful and so quiet, and it is such a dear old place to ramble round in the early morning before many people are about.” Jerome K. Jerome, “Three Men In A Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)” Ch. 6 (1889)

a muse

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O Scholarly Pen!
(Where to begin?)
Touching your lips to the dry desert page,
Caressing that plane,
A dance not in vain,
Swirling true art from the mind.

O Unlearned Keys!
(who credits these?)
Standing in rows on old bleachers like troops.
A-fiction romance
and diction, no dance,
Stamping the mark from the hand.

O Sapient tyro*!
(how will you go?)
Seeking to eat from the table of lore.
A home-sculptured meal,
Or “a fast-food deal”?
Glean from the ones who take time!

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"[T]hat's what learning has come to nowadays. The Latin language is hardly understood, Hebrew is unknown and Greek is so little esteemed that it is not considered ignorant for even the most learned men to pass over a Greek word without reading it." -- Victor Hugo
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* an interesting word referring to a student in general, implying the kind of student he is: ignorant or learned. That he is "sapient" suggests he is "learned."

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