Parasite

Conrad Aiken

Nine days he suffered. It was in this wise.—

He, being scion to Homer in our time,

Must needs be telling tales, in prose or rhyme;

He was a pair of large blue hungry eyes.

Money he had, enough to live in ease;—

Drank wine occasionally; would often sit—

Child and critic alternate—in the Pit:

Cheap at a half-crown he thought feasts like these.