Essay on Spam, by Alexander Pope (dedicated to Fox News)

[skip fox]

I.

Say first, whether greed above or fiend below,
Hath reason less or more than Newt's big toe.
What think we when we think of Hannity,
But Chicklets, BVDs, and Saturdays?
When we peruse O'Reilly, what do we do,
But witness witlessness from sense unglued?
What in the septic, fecal draw of Beck
Thus keeps the sheep so mewing, coming back,
His halo of merde strung thick with fat lies,
Or dulling absurdities, stupidities prized?
A ring for the popsicle, a bow for the queen;
But not a whistle for truth, nor respect for what's seen;

etc.

[skip fox]

1. Does everyone hate the 18th century? Or only poetry?

:)

[BurtWorm]

2. How much of that is Pope and how much Fox?

:hi:

Is that from the Dunciad? :dunce:

[skip fox]

3. Few words from Pope from "An Essay on Man," With a lot of drivel by Fox.

Hi, BurtWorm.

(Wow! How many people would even know what the Dunciad is? This this certainly in the vein of such. Pound said the hardest thing about the Dunciad is giving a damned about these slugs which so animated Pope. Once I read the entire thing. With footnotes!! Colley Cibber indeed!)

[BurtWorm]

4. English major.

;)

It's on my list of things to read before I die, should I live long enough.

[skip fox]

5. It is a gas, Pope's carnival of the mentally dispossessed, and gives

perspective to those of us who consider such inanities as we witness new to the human condition. To paraphrase someone's comment on the poor: The stupid will always be with us. (As well as unconsidered rapacity, maliciousness, balls-out confusion, etc. Their name is Legion.)

But I'm old and "in the business" (poetry, and even though I like Pope, I'd not waste the time reading more than selections with the barest of footnotes--after all one needn't be aware of the precise reasons for all Pope's personal hatreds.)

[BurtWorm]

6. I just like the idea of an epic about idiots.

I like the idea better than dealing with the reality of it. I'll take your advice and leave it at the bottom of the list. That way if I die before I get to it, I won't feel like I missed it!