Oracle of the market! thence you drew <br />The taste which stamped you guide of the inept. - <br />A North-sea pilot, Hildebrand yclept, <br />A sturdy and a briny, once men knew. <br />He loved small beer, and for that copious brew, <br />To roll ingurgitation till he slept, <br />Rations exchanged with flavour for the adept: <br />And merrily plied him captain, mate and crew. <br />At last this dancer to the Polar star <br />Sank, washed out within, and overboard was pitched, <br />To drink the sea and pilot him to land. <br />O captain-critic! printed, neatly stitched, <br />Know while the pillory-eggs fly fast, they are <br />Not eggs, but the drowned soul of Hildebrand.<br /><br />George Meredith<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/continued-ii/
