Scholarship needs more “young alien types who step out and dare to declare”. Ones who aren’t dismissed as young and idealistic, rowdy punks, apathetic and disrespectful of History and the way things are and have been and will be because you’ll learn from the Masters soon enough. Invited in, given a taste of what to read and write about. Taste lingers and shapes the appetite. You too will become guardians of this language museum (you’re a teacher you know how these kids are the youth today need discipline their lazy tongues and idle minds are killing our language they don’t worship like they ought), but don’t you dare disturb anything from its rightful place. But the dust continues to form sedimentary layers!

I’m not saying that rebellion (even thoughtful questioning with the utmost respect) hasn’t happened and doesn’t now, but I find myself an anarchist whenever my font slips out of the Times. Worse still is when my fingers set up the page from dutiful service in my youth. These words have been composed before and will again but still deserve a declaration.