Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Apology #130 to William Shakespeare

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the spot
Some mussels have to tell the dark from light;
A complex lens, this mollusk it has not—
One could not claim a mussel has true sight.
I have seen pigment cups for eyes in snails
But no such eyes my beauty doth possess—
To see a light’s direction, sans details
Is not the job of her eyes, I confess.
Nor pinhole lens, nor any incomplete
Approximation of her perfect eye;
No trail of clues to offer a concrete
Explanatory theory to apply.
And yet, all data points to one solution—
The eyes I love arose through evolution.

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's really beautiful and funny at the same time. That's always been my favorite sonnet by him. Too bad I'm at work and can't see the video. I'll check it out when I get home.

Here's my response (in the voice of the IDiots), with apologies to Sir Walter Scott:
Darwin's sharp questions must we shun,
Lest our "theory" should be undone.
Oh! What a tangled web we weave
When first we practice to deceive!
And Ben lied, too! No wonder why
We were debunked about the eye.

Well, I'm no Cuttlefish, but I wanted to let you know that I love your work. Speaking of tangled webs, I have a friend on LJ, who pointed me to Wil Wheaton's blog, and Phil Plait has a "man-crush" on him, and that lead to PZ, where I found you in the comments. :) The internet's a fun place.

12:34 AM
Unknown said...

The eyes have it! Another masterful poem. Your ability to speak in the voice of other poets is remarkable.

Mandydax, very nice as well.

4:25 AM
Dana Hunter said...

Our digital bard
Speaks science with Shakespeare's voice -
A spring moon gazes.

7:00 AM

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