Classic Poem

At this point let us become more personal —
What do you think—a proper sporting spell!
Come down to earth with me and rummage round
In things as concrete as our well-pegged pound,
Round fourteen shillings: things as far apart
As the economic history of art,
And the great laws that hedge the life of Dr Fell,
That admirable physician! Let us tell
Each other stories of the dark campaigns
That dominate the output of our brains
And for that purpose I will call upon
A powerful ghost, as well up as any don
In his particular subject—introduce
(This is a piece of really first-class news)
A great professional Outcast of the Pen,
A happy swordsman, a modest gentleman.
I refer, of course, to Mister Enemy.
His shadow over everything I see,
A hostile shadow—I scarcely think I blame
This portent for his habits, or his name.
Ours is a clownish age. If so the man
You be to understand it then you can
Scarcely be other than a Man in an Iron Mask
Or choose but choose a most invidious task.—
Henceforth the voice you hear is the deep growl—
The mask, if any, the notorious scowl—
Of Enemy Number One. He has been shown
The text so far, and will take up the tone
And carry on, in characteristic style,
With personalities our smile outsmile.