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349
The Journal of a Disappointed Man
·
W. N. P. Barbellion
275
Chorus:
"Why?"
"Because
if
the
future
turns
out
badly
you
can
say,
'I
told
you
so,'
to
your
own
satisfaction,
and
if
all
is
well,
why
you
share
everyone
else's
satisfaction."
Or
I
say:
"No,
I
can't
swim;
and
I
don't
want
to!"
Chorus:
"Why?"
"Because
it
is
so
dangerous."
Chorus:
"Why?"
The
Infernally
Wise
Youth:
"For
several
reasons.
If
you
are
a
swimmer
you
are
likely
to
be
oftener
near
water
and
oftener
in
danger
than
a
non-swimmer.
Further,
as
soon
as
you
can
swim
even
only
a
little,
then
as
an
honourable
man,
it
behoves
you
to
plunge
in
at
once
to
save
a
drowning
person,
whereas,
if
you
couldn't
swim
it
would
be
merely
tempting
Providence."
Isn't
it
sickening?
A
Jolt
Yesterday
the
wind
was
taken
out
of
my
sails.
Racing
along
with
spinnaker
and
jib,
feeling
pretty
fit
and
quite
excited
over
some
interesting
ectoparasites
just
collected
on
some
Tinamous,
I
suddenly
shot
into
a
menacing
dead
calm:
that
stiflingly
still
atmosphere
which
precedes
a
Typhoon.
That
is
to
say,
my
eye
caught
the
title
of
an
enormous
quarto
memoir
in
the
Trans.
Roy.
Soc.,
Edinburgh:
The
Histology
of
----
----.
I
was
browsing
in
the
library
at
the
time
when
this
hit
me
like
a
carelessly
handled
gaff
straight
in
the
face.
I
almost
ran
away
to
my
room.
My
Pink
Form
just
received
amazes
me!
To
be
a
soldier?
C'est
incroyable,
ma
foi!
The
possibility
even
is
distracting!
To
send
me
a
notice
requesting
me
to
prepare
myself
for
killing
men!
Why
I
should
feel
no
more
astonished
to
receive
a
War
Office
injunction
under
dire
penalties
to
perform
miracles,
to
move
mountains,
to
raise
from
the
dead:
My
reply
would
be:
"I
cannot."
I
should
sit
still
and
watch
the
whole
universe
pass
to
its
destruction
rather
than
raise
a
hand
to
knife
a
fellow.
This
may
be
poor,
anæmic;
but
there
it
is,
a
positive
fact.
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