Classic Poem

Author

This text is not what it should be.
There are some strange mistakes I see
I must have missed. For who, right witted,
Would dream of putting " filled" for " fitted"?
Or " light" for " tight"? Or " sleep" for " steep"?
— Such things would make the angels weep.

Publisher

That is so. Still they do occur
To the most proved artificer.
You must have failed to cross your " t's":
G ENIUS is prone to that disease!

Author

True. (And sometimes, by accident,
The blunder betters what was meant!)
But tell me. What is my position?
Correction? In a new edition?
— Those " new editions" have a knack,
Unluckily, of holding back ...

Publisher

That is because men take more pains
To feed their bodies than their brains;
Or else because they really care
For little save the lighter fare;
And then — though this is poor relief —
The life of modern books is brief.
— We'll paste in an " Errata " slip ...

Author

Which none will look at but to skip.
No; the misfortune must be gulped,
Until the masterpiece is ... pulped!