1 IF COULD TELL YOU ‘Time will say nothing but I told you so, Time only knows the price we have to pay; If could tell you I would let you know. If we should weep when clowns put on their show, If we should stumble when musicians play, ‘Time will say nothing but I told you so. ‘There are no fortunes to be told, although, Because I love you more than I can say, If I could tell you I would let you know. ‘The winds must come from somewhere when they blow, ‘There must be reasons why the leaves decay; Time will say nothing but I told you so. Perhaps the roses really want to grow, ‘The vision seriously intends to stay; IFT could tell you I would let you know. Suppose the lions all get up and go, And all the brooks and soldiers run away; ‘Will Time say nothing but I told you so? If could tell you I would let you know. mm MT ACURSE Dark was that day when Diesel conceived his grim engine that begot you, vile invention, more vicious, more criminal than the camera even, metallic monstrosity, bale and bane of our Culture, chief woe of our Commonweal. How dare the Law prohibit hashish and heroin yet licence your use, who inflate all weak inferior egos? ‘Their addicts only do harm to their own lives: you poison the lungs of the innocent, your din dithers the peaceful, and on choked roads hundreds must daily die by chance-medley. Nimble technicians, surely you should hang your heads in shame, ‘Your wit works mighty wonders, has landed men on the Moon, replaced brains by computers, and can smithy a ‘smart bomb. Itis crying scandal that you cannot take the time or be bothered to build us, ‘what sanity knows we need, an odorless and noiseless staid little electric brougham, ‘Warm are the still and lucky miles, White shores of longing stretch away, A light of recognition fills ‘The whole great dow ae 4% = —t= ‘The tiny world of lover's arms. Silence invades the breathing wood Where drowsy limbs a treasure keep, ‘Now greenly falls the learned shade ‘Across the sleeping brows And stirs their secret to a smile. Restored! Returned! The lost are borne ‘On seas of shipwreck home at last: See! In a fire of praising burns “The dry dumb past, and we Our life-day long shall part no more. © The Estate of the Late W. H. Auden Reprinted by permission of Faber & Faber Limited: Yl Could Tell You and Warm are the still and lucky miles from COLLECTED SHORTER POEMS 1927-1957, 4 Curse from THANK YOU, FOG.