domingo, 9 de fevereiro de 2014

The Microscope


    Anton Leeuwenhoek was Dutch.
    He sold pincushions, cloth, and such.
    The waiting townsfolk fumed and fussed
    As Anton’s dry goods gathered dust.
    He worked, instead of tending store,
    At grinding special lenses for
    A microscope. Some of the things
    He looked at were: mosquitoes’ wings,
    the hairs of sheep, the legs of lice,
    the skin of people, dogs, and mice;
    ox eyes, spiders’ spinning gear,
    fishes’ scales, a little smear
    of his own blood, and best of all,
    the unknown, busy, very small
    bugs that swim and bump and hop
    inside a simple water drop.

    Impossible! Most Dutchmen said.
    This Anton’s crazy in the head!
    We ought to ship him off to Spain!
    He says he’s seen a housefly’s brain!
    He says the water that we drink
    Is full of bugs! He’s mad, we think!

    They called him dumkopf, which means dope.
    That’s how we got the microscope.

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