{"id":1006,"date":"2026-09-28T19:59:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T18:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/?p=1006"},"modified":"2026-11-08T18:36:37","modified_gmt":"2026-11-08T18:36:37","slug":"for-doctor-thomas-eliot","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/noctes\/for-doctor-thomas-eliot\/","title":{"rendered":"For Doctor Thomas Eliot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
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For Doctor Thomas Eliot1<\/a><\/sup><\/h1>\n<\/header>\n
\n
\n

Why should the ageing Whale spread fin<\/p>\n

Except in tribute to his kin?<\/p>\n

For of the larger ruminants<\/p>\n

The next to Whale is Elephants<\/p>\n

And Elephants of forty-nine<\/p>\n

Deserve the effort of a line.2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Whale\u2019s tributes have been rarer since<\/p>\n

A long-ago experience<\/p>\n

When God elected to do good<\/p>\n

By overwhelming all in Flood<\/p>\n

Excepting those inside the Ark3<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Which left Whale outside in the dark.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Since then, though Ark was soon unloaded<\/p>\n

And Elephants, though maybe goaded,<\/p>\n

Have grace to know where there is light,<\/p>\n

Whale travels slowly through the night<\/p>\n

Not much revolving past his window<\/p>\n

Except the salt, and what dead men do.4<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Whale mostly greets dead men pro tem.,<\/p>\n

Because he has the pick of them,<\/p>\n

Yet Elephant, while he is lively<\/p>\n

Is good as dead, comparatively,<\/p>\n

And Elephants of fifty will<\/p>\n

Have earned a greater tribute still.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

[F. V. Morley]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\nNotes<\/summary>\n
    \n
  1. 1.<\/a>\n

    Draft dated 25 Oct. 1937.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. 2.<\/a>\n

    Thomas Chatterton, The Poetical Works<\/em> (1875), vol. 1: III Poems Written in 1770<\/em>: \u2018Kew Gardens\u2019, ll. 409\u201310:<\/p>\n

    Newton, accept the tribute of a line<\/p>

    From one whose humble genius honours thine \u2026<\/p><\/div>\n

    TSE was to turn forty-nine on 26 Sept. 1939.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  3. 3.<\/a>\n

    See the story of Noah\u2019s Ark, in Genesis 6\u20138.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  4. 4.<\/a>\n

    \u2018What dead men do\u2019 is a classic crossword puzzle clue: the answer is \u2018tell no tales\u2019.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/details>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    For Doctor Thomas Eliot1 Why should the ageing Whale spread fin Except in tribute to his kin? For of the larger ruminants The next to Whale is Elephants And Elephants of forty-nine Deserve the effort of a line.2 Whale\u2019s tributes have been rarer since A long-ago experience When God elected to do good By overwhelming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1006","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/noctes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/noctes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/noctes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/noctes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/noctes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1006"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/noctes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1006\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1102,"href":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/noctes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1006\/revisions\/1102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/noctes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}