Chapter & Verse

Rick Stanford asks if anyone can provide the title and author of a poem that begins with the line, “Twenty inglorious Miltons looked at a...

Rick Stanford asks if anyone can provide the title and author of a poem that begins with the line, “Twenty inglorious Miltons looked at a tree and saw God.” 

Gary Pildner wonders whether any other wordsmith beat him to the crafting of the sentence “A man is truly rich when he has earned the love of a good woman.” 

Daniel Tyler hopes that someone can identify “Let reason once become dethroned and it makes madmen of us all,” a statement written in 1871 by a young Iowan to a lady he was courting by mail. 

Richard Olken seeks the complete text and author of a poem that ends: “So let this tale dramatic/Anent a whale Norwegian,/And pressure hydrostatic/Warn you, my young collegian,/That down-compelling forces/Increase as you go deeper./The lower down your course is,/ The upward path the steeper.”

 

“‘Pomp and Circumstance’ parody” (March-April). George Bergman and Ruth Gibson reported learning “reindeer” variants mentioning the Girl Scouts from their daughters. Gibson recommended https://gsleaders.org/files/scoutsong.htm#MyRein; he added that Googling for “sung to the tune of pomp and circumstance” turns up the chicken and reindeer songs, some serious songs, and at least one other parody.

 

Send inquiries and answers to “Chapter and Verse,” Harvard Magazine, 7 Ware Street, Cambridge 02138.

 

 

 

 

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