The Scholars

by

Author William Butler Yeats 
Bald heads forgetful of their sins,
Old, learned, respectable bald heads
Edit and annotate the lines
That young men, tossing on their beds,
Rhymed out in loveΒ’s despair
To flatter beautyΒ’s ignorant ear.

TheyΒ’ll cough in the ink to the worldΒ’s end;
Wear out the carpet with their shoes
Earning respect; have no strange friend;
If they have sinned nobody knows.
Lord, what would they say
Should their Catullus walk that way?