Classic Poem

I

The Whole World Including the Speaker

Why nag at the ideas of Hercules, Don Don?
Widen your sense. All things in the sun are sun.

II

The Whole World Excluding the Speaker

I found between moon-rising and moon-setting
The world was round. But not from my begetting.

III

Soupe Aux Perles

Health-o, when ginger and fromage bewitch
The vile antithesis of poor and rich.

IV

Soupe Sans Perles

I crossed in '38 in the Western Head .
It depends which way you crossed, the tea-belle said.

V

Boston with a Note-book

Lean encyclopaedists, inscribe an Iliad.
There's a weltanschauung of the penny pad.

VI

Boston without a Note-book

Let us erect in the Basin a lofty fountain.
Suckled on ponds, the spirit craves a watery mountain.

VII

Artist in Tropic

Of Phaebus Apothicaire the first beatitude:
Blessed, who is his nation's multitude.

VIII

Artist in Arctic

And of Phaebus the Tailor the second saying goes:
Blessed, whose beard is cloak against the snows.