Begetting

If Shakespeare didn't write Shakespeare

Then who in fact did?

Sir Francis Bacon? Edward Lord Vere?

Queen Elizabeth? Good Lord, forbid.

It's the old notion of like begets like:

Those who have produce those who can,

Which may sometimes be the case,

But when one thinks of it a bit,

Like begets unlike as often

And at much the expected pace.

Great thinkers from ignorant parents grow,

As those who steep themselves

In history know;

Rich men from wretched circumstances rise,

As those who study economics

Convincingly advise.

Abraham Lincoln's father couldn't read;

Could barely write his name,

Yet his son used language in

Ways that insure his everlasting fame.

Heroes are rarely from heroes born,

Heroines the same,

Beauty rarely passes well,

And kindness just in name.

The Web Projects of Sondra Ball and Mario Cavallini