Saturday, April 14, 2012

The poem 'Cosmic Gall' by John Updike(adapted to suit Indian students)

Neutrinos, they are very small.
They have no charge and have no mass
And do not interact at all.
The earth is just a silly ball
To them, through which they simply pass,
Like dustmaids down a drafty hall
Or photons through a sheet of glass.
They snub the most exquisite gas,
Ignore the most substantial wall,
Cold-shoulder steel and sounding brass,
Insult the stallion in his stall,
And scoring barriers of class,
Infiltrate you and me! Like tall
And painless guillotines, they fall
Down through our heads into the grass.
At night, they enter the library door
And pierce the chair with the scholar in its arms
With your nose inside the books-you call
It wonderful; I call it crass.


7 comments:

  1. Posted with a wish that it may be of interest to science students who love literature!

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  2. I do believe the last few lines have been altered.

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  3. True the poem has been adapted to go down better with my students.

    best wishes

    divya

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  6. Pl comment keeping decorum and canons of good behaviour. Healthy criticism is welcome.

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