[Christopher Mulrooney]

This looks as if it may have been inspired by a very humorous long travel poem of Goethe's, «Das Tagebuch».

Vor deinem Jammerkreuz, blutrünstiger Christe,
Verzeih mirs Gott, es regte sich der Iste.

Glynis Johns recites it wonderfully on a beach in one of her films.

[robert mezey]

Golias, I have a mild disagreement. True, the
villanelle is a bitch, and I'm not always sure
what perfection is, but I think there are two
in English that are wholly successful: "The
House on the Hill" and "In Memory of the Un-
Known Poet, Robert Boardman Vaughn."