Song of ill humor

Not one rhymer can one find

that does not hold himself the best,

nor fiddler who would not rather

play his own melodies.

And I cannot blame them;

when we give honor to others

we must degrade ourselves;

does one then live, when others live?

And so I have found recently

in certain ante-chambers

where one does not know how to distinguish

mouse dung from coriander.

The has-beens would hate

such active new brooms,

and these in turn give little weight

to those who once were brooms.

And where people disagree

with contempt,

neither side will admit

that they strive for the same thing.

And this rude self-esteem

has been condemned the most strongly

by those who find it most difficult to recover

when others are successful.