Titans of Chaos

He raised his wineglass. "When Ireland gets the atom bomb, we'll see how well Q-man's

'hierarchic principle of the universe' holds out! Down with crowned head, on Earth, in Heaven, orin Hell!"

Vanity said, "You're not really Irish, you know."

Colin said, "So what? I like 'em. Oscar Wilde, W. B. Yeats."

"Do you know anything about Yeats?"

Colin looked pompous and offended. He jarred the wineglass down on the table. "Do I indeed, thecolleen, she asks? And me a true son of the Old Sod? Faith! Hear this:When you are old and gray and full of sleep, And nodding by the fire, take down this book, Andslowly read, and dream of the soft look Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;How many loved your moments of glad grace, And loved your beauty with love false or true;But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your changing face.

And bending down beside the glowing bars Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled And paced uponthe mountains overhead And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

Vanity was taken aback. "That's a beautiful poem." "To be sure, and it is!" declared Colin, liftinghis wineglass again to his lips with relish. "I don't know what the first two stanzas are on about,but I've always wanted a crown of stars like the one Love hides his face in on the mountain. Iassume he meant Cupid atop Olympos. Wonder how he knew Cupid was crowned King afterTerminus fell? Quentin, can you summon up his ghost to ask him?"

Quentin nodded, and mentioned some of the disgusting things he'd have to get or to do to performthe necromancy. Victor said, "The poem said 'crowd,' not 'crown.'" Colin shrugged. "Miss Dawtold me once that you can interpret a poem how you like, so I interpret that Yeats's pen slippedwhen he wrote that last line. I'm sure he meant to say 'crown.'" I said, "And what do you think ofAmerica?" Colin nodded at me. "I am suspicious of anything you like, Amelia, just on principle;but on the other hand, everyone says California girls are hot, young, wet, and eager, so the placecannot be all bad."

Vanity commented: "Ah! The echoes from the shallow well! Colin, I would call you a boor, exceptI know some boors who are quite nicer than you. She was asking what you thought of their systemof government."