Arbitary Values A=1, B=2, C=3,... A Scoff on Poetic Theory and Metre

Poetry should never have been written by numbers.
For painting by numbers is left to children.
Nay, poetry should pluck nature's possibilities
not restrict itself to repetitive,
overused mathematical feet and equations.

For the success of this art is nothing
more than a mask of literary achievement,
a false artistry and a basic contradiction
to the idea that art and mathematics are
separate disciplines.

If art is to progress: Gentlemen,

16, 12, 5, 1, 19, 5 + 12, 5, 20,' 19 + 6, 15, 18, 7, 5, 20 + 20, 8, 5 + 2, 15, 25, + 20, 8, 1, 20, + 12, 5, 20, + 20, 8, 5 + 6, 15, 18, 13 + 18, 21, 12, 5 + 8, 9, 1 9 + 8, 1, 14, 4

Minus
1, 14, 4, + 6, 15, 18, 7, 5, 20 + 20, 8, 5 + 13, 5, 14 + 23, 8, 15 + 7, 1, 22, 5 + 20, 8, 5 + 2, 15, 25 + 20, 8, 5, + 6, 15, 18, 13

equals

1, 14, 4 + 19, 5, 20 + "9" + 10, 1, 13, 5, 19 + 6, 18, 5, 5