Forever mispronouncing words
A neoglot eternal;
Can speak, perhaps, some Attic Greek
But mixes it with Doric.

Enamored of the intellect
A coward dilettante;
Awash with undercurrents vast
But firmly Apollonic.

Aghast at youth today, at Man
A classicist escapist;
In dreams sings Wotan in Der Ring
But dares not sing in public.

What a piece of work am I
How fragile in reason
How insecure in faculty


--10-Feb-2003