The Editor

by Kumud Biswas

She is a Psychologist
But edits poetry
Because
She knows
Readers’ minds more
Than Shakespeare or Tagore.
To modernize
She changes Shakespeare’s blank verse
Because
It is no longer in use.
He had small Latin and less Greek
But least of all he had English.
His grammar is so bad -
She doesn’t try to correct
Because she finds it useless
Shakespeare came from a village
And had never been to a college
Though he studied in a grammar school
He learnt no grammar at all
To correct Shakespeare grammatically
You have to rewrite him entirely
Which she must now keep pending
Because she is busy with editing.

And Tagore?
His case is worse
Let alone a college
He had never been to any school of any sort
A lazy fellow he was too lazy to shave
And grew a long beard.
He had no other work to do
He only wrote and wrote.
Indulging in an extravaganza
He knew not how to frame a stanza.
Monstrously monotonous
He didn’t know where to begin
Or where to stop.
In his case
In the use of the editor’s scissors
One has to be merciless.
Other authors
Are no less atrocious
So no book you should read or even touch
Without our editor’s guidance.

17-Jul-2013

More By : Kumud Biswas

Views: 2449 Comments: 2

Comments on this Poem

Today we are unable to laugh at our own selves!

TagoreBlog
20-Jul-2013 20:37 PM

If it is for our honourable editor Aparna Ji.It may be right or wrong.Actual
position will be clear after commenting of Aparna Ji. She can tell more accurately about this.Thank you very much for describing on "The Editor " in
detail.

Nathmal Sharma
20-Jul-2013 14:04 PM