[Reed wrote this in less than 20 minutes, on Thursday the 1st of November, in a complicated recess of the labyrinthine university library, near Paleontology. There were pigeons roosting on the window-ledge, iridescent in the autumn sunlight. And workmen drilling next-door. Possibly knocking Dutch literature through into Law Studies - Ed].
The man is patient, kind and good.
Yes, there were others I have kissed
Who seemed to promise that they would
Be one of patient, kind, or good,
So I should make it understood
That there’s a reason why they missed:
This man is patient, kind, and good,
Unlike others I have kissed.
A Triolet? Nay, A work of genius. A complete life and love and all the associated experiences explained in full. And all in only eight lines.
Inspiring me to wish that I were that man, yet knowing I am only capable of two out of three, and two out of three ain’t bad.