Niceness as a Weapon
A poet can’t be boring, that’s except
When sloughing off those arrogant demands
From men as snooty as Lytton. Inept
This hunter was. He never got his hands
On Rupert. Beauty and the Beast reborn
Was what that situation was. Brooke came
By invitation. Should beauty adorn
Apostles in their haughty, secret shame?
No, Brooke decided. He was very nice
To Lytton in the Strachey house, but that
Was it, a kind of nice more like smooth ice.
Brooke bored the Stracheys, shmoozed too nice in chat.
He left unsullied and untouched by James
And Lytton, nicely dampering their flames.
~ Phillip Whidden