Classic Poem

Cried he in a tone of despair, may I die,
If to please the old Grinder I ever more try:
His scores and his scratches no fellow can bear;
This excellent theme all to pieces I'll tear.
Corrections he makes just to show his red ink,
For no other object—and what do you think?
A passage he marks with his disapprobations
I took from Mark Tully's most classic oration!
If he can improve upon Cicero's style
Such news I han't heard for a very long while;
But all who have brains in their skulls must agree
Such talent can ne'er be expected of me.