A Helmet Made of Boar's Teeth
In a particular hatbox — who knows
What has become of the original contents? —
In a hatbox kept in the dark on a high shelf
The helmet smells less year by year
But becomes yellower. It will, by and by,
Be brown, outright, as well as odorless.
An heirloom, it cannot be worn to wars or parties any more
Or taken places as a talisman or mascot.
Each tooth (not counting the four
That are gone absolutely) is loose.
I ought to tell this story to my son:
One night, when I was as happy
As somebody alone and naked is likely to get,
I set it on my head
And walked with dignity down the dim hall
From the closet to the half-bathroom.
There I looked long into the sober mirror.
How the godly split tusks curved every which way!
I bared my own teeth, such as they were then,
And whispered me a pendragon whisper: Oink .
If in the beginning they name you William
You have a helmet with you all the time.
Although you can pull snakes' fangs and hypnotize tigers,
Your body will outlast your soul
In more or less the same way that
A hatbox can outlast a hat.
Therefore, I leave — I mean: I hereby will
My temporary teeth to the Masons
(One for each of their ancient thirty-two degrees).
In a particular hatbox — who knows
What has become of the original contents? —
In a hatbox kept in the dark on a high shelf
The helmet smells less year by year
But becomes yellower. It will, by and by,
Be brown, outright, as well as odorless.
An heirloom, it cannot be worn to wars or parties any more
Or taken places as a talisman or mascot.
Each tooth (not counting the four
That are gone absolutely) is loose.
I ought to tell this story to my son:
One night, when I was as happy
As somebody alone and naked is likely to get,
I set it on my head
And walked with dignity down the dim hall
From the closet to the half-bathroom.
There I looked long into the sober mirror.
How the godly split tusks curved every which way!
I bared my own teeth, such as they were then,
And whispered me a pendragon whisper: Oink .
If in the beginning they name you William
You have a helmet with you all the time.
Although you can pull snakes' fangs and hypnotize tigers,
Your body will outlast your soul
In more or less the same way that
A hatbox can outlast a hat.
Therefore, I leave — I mean: I hereby will
My temporary teeth to the Masons
(One for each of their ancient thirty-two degrees).
What has become of the original contents? —
In a hatbox kept in the dark on a high shelf
The helmet smells less year by year
But becomes yellower. It will, by and by,
Be brown, outright, as well as odorless.
An heirloom, it cannot be worn to wars or parties any more
Or taken places as a talisman or mascot.
Each tooth (not counting the four
That are gone absolutely) is loose.
I ought to tell this story to my son:
One night, when I was as happy
As somebody alone and naked is likely to get,
I set it on my head
And walked with dignity down the dim hall
From the closet to the half-bathroom.
There I looked long into the sober mirror.
How the godly split tusks curved every which way!
I bared my own teeth, such as they were then,
And whispered me a pendragon whisper: Oink .
If in the beginning they name you William
You have a helmet with you all the time.
Although you can pull snakes' fangs and hypnotize tigers,
Your body will outlast your soul
In more or less the same way that
A hatbox can outlast a hat.
Therefore, I leave — I mean: I hereby will
My temporary teeth to the Masons
(One for each of their ancient thirty-two degrees).
In a particular hatbox — who knows
What has become of the original contents? —
In a hatbox kept in the dark on a high shelf
The helmet smells less year by year
But becomes yellower. It will, by and by,
Be brown, outright, as well as odorless.
An heirloom, it cannot be worn to wars or parties any more
Or taken places as a talisman or mascot.
Each tooth (not counting the four
That are gone absolutely) is loose.
I ought to tell this story to my son:
One night, when I was as happy
As somebody alone and naked is likely to get,
I set it on my head
And walked with dignity down the dim hall
From the closet to the half-bathroom.
There I looked long into the sober mirror.
How the godly split tusks curved every which way!
I bared my own teeth, such as they were then,
And whispered me a pendragon whisper: Oink .
If in the beginning they name you William
You have a helmet with you all the time.
Although you can pull snakes' fangs and hypnotize tigers,
Your body will outlast your soul
In more or less the same way that
A hatbox can outlast a hat.
Therefore, I leave — I mean: I hereby will
My temporary teeth to the Masons
(One for each of their ancient thirty-two degrees).
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