[basil ransome-davies]

Hope is the thing with feathers, Emily wrote,
And I would add, to amplify the quote,
Perhaps Hope flies, but does Hope ever think?
Plans that are launched on Hope are prone to sink.
Your local Pangloss, blissfully insane,
Numbers his blessings with an addled brain,
Expecting each routine New Year to bring
World peace by magic. What a dingaling.
Yet leave out Hope, and what have you got left
Except a lonely ego – chill, bereft?
A tribute, therefore, to Pandora's box:
Reason may shape our judgement, but Hope rocks.