w=a=l=t or 'literature and oatmeal'

it is well known
that people once said,
and have repeated often since,
the following curious sentence:

‘we cultivate literature on a little oatmeal’.

‘Culture’ is a debased term.
It refers to Radio Times and Sunday Supplements,
but if it were to be rehabilitated
it might be clear why we also see ‘culture’ in yoghurt.

and here’s the rub. This, from William Power,
of Sir Walter Scott:

“His gentry are seldom
much more than lay figures,
and their womenkind are
insipid to a degree
that ought to have astonished
a period in which
passionate episodes were not
uncommon in Edinburgh. . .
On the other hand, this Tory of Tories,
who rose from a sick-bed to
protest passionately against the political
enfranchisement of the common people,
attained Shakespearean heights in his
portrayal of the humble folk of Scotland.”