Into outlying sections of the scenery,
What moral value might accrue
From billiards played beneath the blue.
Little I fancied when I topped the sphere
And on its candour left a coarse impression,
Or in the bed of some revolting mere
Mislaid three virgin globes in swift succession,
That I was learning how to grip
The rudiments of statesmanship.
Yet so it was. I schooled myself to gaze