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Poems

The Property of Michael Gray, If Found

4 April 2013

2:00 PM

4 April 2013

2:00 PM

A sample of things people should know about,
or have heard of, whether they’re 12 or not:
George Washington, George Gershwin, George Eliot,
Henry Ford, Charlie Chaplin, Elvis Presley, Jane Austen,

Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Florence Nightingale,
the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Muhammad Ali,
Roger Federer, Queen Victoria, Snow White,
Bing Crosby, Saint Paul, Emily Bronte, the dromedary,


the Wall Street Crash, William Gladstone, Franklin D. Roosevelt,
Benjamin Disraeli, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Isle of Skye,
Sanskrit, Alexander the Great, devilled eggs and lard.
You should not be reviled for being unfamiliar

with Willie Nelson, the Scissor Sisters, Stefan Edberg or floc.
Of course there are subjective edges, but there is,
and should be, such a thing as General Knowledge.
Frank Sinatra is; the name of a football team mascot isn’t.

The post The Property of Michael Gray, If Found appeared first on The Spectator.

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