Lawrence Hall, HSG
An English Major
Screaming at a Wall Clock
(A French officer would be too well-mannered to do that)
Passing from one office to another in quest
Of some elusive official signature
I saw a woman screaming at a clock
And heard her, too, because screams are like that
“She’s an English major,” someone said in explanation
“She and her boy Wordsworth are at it again
And meddlesome Coleridge keeps putting his oar in”
I nodded in understanding; Milton had mentioned it
A scholar should never scream at institutional clocks;
He should discreetly disapprove of them
