The themes, the theses, the exegeses,
the verses never yet penned ;
we needn’t deem, we needn’t esteem
these were merest ’let’s pretend’.
The letters, the sentences : see the shelves !
there, helpless, the wretches shelter :
ever dejected, never respected,
never perfected, never themselves,
where the helter-skelter welter
stresses, messes,
depresses,
represses.
Yes, the excess ! We seethe, we fret :
we’ll fettle these letters, we’ll get them yet.