Charm & Strangeness

Slim Truth dismissed without a character,

And gaga Falsehood highly recommended.



Greed showing shamelessly her naked money,

And all Love’s wondering eloquence debased

To a collector’s slang, Smartness in furs,

And Beauty scratching miserably for food,

Honour self-sacrificed for calculation,

And Reason stoned by Mediocrity,

Freedom by Power shockingly maltreated,

And Justice exiled till Saint Geoffrey’s Day.

(Auden. Birthday Poem (To Christopher Isherwood.) Faber, Collected Shorter Poems 1930-1944.)