The biographer assumes
You may keenly agree
With many quoted here who say
They had singular misfortune
Ever to know him
He was a flawed and sordid
Deeply unlovely person
Though – now I consider –
All such critics seem to be
American by nation and persuasion
Possessing inalienable right
In assumption of moral outrage
That addiction is not progressive
Illness but expression of malign
Maladjusted degenerate character –
Needless to say I disagree
Being un-melodramatically English
And his music I say is the sound
Of stillness that defines
The dandy’s unsung attribute –
Discretion
.
Bernard Saint
Illustration: Claire Palmer
.