Dotted about the deck they doze or play,
Your loyal subjects all, grateful enough
To know their place and believe what you say.
Antonio, sweet brother, has to laugh.
How easy you have made it to refuse
Peace to your greatness! Break your wand in half,
The fragments will join; burn your books or lose
Them in the sea, they will soon reappear,
Not even damaged: as long as I choose
To wear my fashion, whatever you wear
Is a magic robe; while I stand outside
Your circle, the will to charm is still there.
As I exists so you shall be denied,
Forced to remain our melancholy mentor,
The grown-up man, the adult in his pride,
Never have time to curl up at the centre
Time turns on when completely reconciled,
Never become and therefore never enter
The green occluded pasture as a child.
Your all is partial, Prospero;
My will is all my own:
Your need to love shall never know
Me: I am I, Antonio,
By choice myself alone.
(Auden, The Sea and the Mirror, Part II)
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