11 FEBRUARY 1966, Page 21

Van Gogh Again

This place is too mild, Nothing dangerous could Happen here, I think, Nothing great, either; If somebody screams or throws A tea-cup through a window, They are removed elsewhere.

It is chastening to reflect That had Van Gogh been brought (By accident, of course) Into this mild ward, And gone berserk one night In the middle of painting Oh, say the moonlight, He would soon have gone To a more hectic place, And there, no doubt, have entered A remote, fearful calm Where everything was clear,

And, searching for something to do, Would then have struck off his ear.