WEBVTT

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Oh, this is a poem
called "Verses Versus."

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The Latin verses, versus.

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Verses versus verses,
like Spy vs. Spy.

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You read Mad Magazine?

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OK.

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[LAUGHTER]

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Well, if a common assumption
is that one's art may cost them

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something in one's
life, this is based

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on the opposite assumption--
that one's life may cost

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one something of one's art.

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"First there's the courtship,
and that's seven poems,

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and the marriage costs three.

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And then comes the
first birth, which

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costs more than just several,
although succeeding births grow

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less expensive,
but more routine.

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But then there's the
children's schooling,

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which costs two decades,
and 300 or 437 poems

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with some interest.

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And you worry about borrowing,
until one night at dinner,

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there's the possibility
of retirement,

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and you have them
disconnect the utilities.

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And there go four poems-- gas,
oil, water, and electricity.

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And a good meal in a
restaurant by this time

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costs 100 lines, with
a sonnet for the tip.

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But you wouldn't have
it any other way,

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and you wouldn't have
it any other way.

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So you're held up.

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And when you sell out, you
throw in six thieves and a title

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for good measure."

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[APPLAUSE]

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[LAUGHS]

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Some of those jokes are
terrible, aren't they?

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[LAUGHS] Get out
now, while you can.

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