'Hoc opus, hic labor est.' 'A PREFACE?' Yes. It might be well, If it could make the volume sell. But 'tis a thing one may misuse. For think -- 'twixt 'Qui s'excuse, s'accuse,' And the temptation to explain Where explanation must be vain; Where everything you try to say But seems to give yourself away; And though you pause on every letter, Suggests that silence would be better -- The feat is surely one for those Who deal with jugglery in prose, And, often, leads to little more Than simply blocking up the door. Moreover, there are complications. If you admit your limitations, Review your lapses, or refine them, The Critic can but underline them, And, to your indiscreet confessing, Respond by blandly acquiescing, As he, of course, is free to do (In his place you would do it too!). Thus, by the give-and-take of war, You merely hoist with your petar; In other words, for all your candour, Get nothing but a neat back-hander; No. On the whole, 'twere surely best To let a risky matter rest; And, in default of special pleader, Refer the ruling ... to the Reader! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE SWORD AND THE SICKLE by WILLIAM BLAKE SIGISMONDA AND GUISCARDO by GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO COMRADE JESUS by SARAH NORCLIFFE CLEGHORN MADRIGAL by WILLIAM DRUMMOND OF HAWTHORNDEN BREST LEFT BEHIND by JOHN CHIPMAN FARRAR THE BALLAD OF THE OYSTERMAN by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES |