In Which I Am Swept Away By Richard Holmes

o_simpson4, originally uploaded by escapeintolife.

We poets love our science; now there's proof
In Richard Holmes' latest, lovely book
The Age of Wonder. No one kept aloof
From gaping at balloons, or from a look
At where the Herschels found Uranus through
A telescope of William's own design,
His sister Caroline at last getting her due
For all she did to help. And there's the fine
Example Joseph Banks' trip set for all.
Erasmus Darwin, Wordworth, Shelley, mine
Own fav'rite, Byron, were all kept in thrall
As these discoveries were made and I'm
Only on Chapter Four! There's still more time!

A Sonnet in Which I Reveal that Iambic Pentameter's a Bitch

On days like these, I curse my foolish thought
To generate, before each day is through
A sonnet that has all the things it ought:
The syllables, the rhyme scheme and then, too
The meter that, for Shakespeare, seems a breeze.
It drives me mad, for my poor feeble brain
Thinks in ottava rima, if you please!
I think I can give Byron all the blame.
I read his great Don Juan much too young,
Spent too much time admiring for their style
Those silly lines that tripped so off my tongue,
And never failed to bring to me a smile.
But since I haven't got a time machine,
I'll do my best to keep to this, my scheme.