25 SEPTEMBER 1964, Page 18

Sonnet for the Class of '58

No longer students and not likely to succeed, Tonight I remember old friends, scattered far, Who wanted so much once, and now need Only a rise of a hundred pounds or a car Or a holiday abroad without the wife, Or time to read more, or more fun.

Perhaps never, or only when drunk, does life Seem as it once seemed, a war to be won.

The moving and influential things they devised Have all been said and done, it seems, by others- Some do the very things that they despised And recognise the enemy as brothers; And even those who've gained more power or sense Feel sorry when they feel the difference.

JAMES SIMMONS'