Poems (Marianne Moore)/"HE WROTE THE HISTORY BOOK," IT SAID

by Marianne Moore

"HE WROTE THE HISTORY BOOK," IT SAID

There! You shed a ray
 of whimsicality on a mask of profundity so
 terrific that I have been dumbfounded by
it oftener than I care to say.
 The book? Titles are chaff.

Authentically
 brief and full of energy, you contribute to your father's
 legibility and are sufficiently
synthetic. Thank you for showing me
 your father's autograph.