Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Please, no jests at a time like this!


Quite right, Mr Hakluyt.
We shall brook no mer-
riment on the pitfalls
of romance in treacher-
ous South Asia. Efface
The Road to Oxiana and
be strict with Louis
Mayer, when faced with
spy arcana, and behav-
iour militaire. Not a
breath of ribald glee,
not a single slap of
knee, may compromise
security of gloom, as
twice imperious effigy
unravels from its loom.

















Robert Byron
The Road to Oxiana
1937
Oxford University Press, 2007©

No comments:

Post a Comment