IN THE ASHMOLEAN

John Aubrey kept his dreams in a box
Which wound up in the Ashmolean
Along with his manuscripts, letters,
Drawings, compasses, sea shells
Odd-shaped stones, plans,

Keys, a lute owned by Thomas Hobbes
And a large number of worn boots
Most meant for the right foot.
The dreams in the box now
Are not Aubrey's but belonged
To a nineteenth century curator
Who never threw anything away.

ECLIPSED

Robert Hooke and his friend John Aubrey
Stand together, watching the moon eclipse.
As the moon gradually turns dark
Aubrey vanishes too. He returns
With its reappearance.

Neither a long series of covert observations
Nor many ingenious experiments
Ever quite convince Hooke
That the Aubrey the moon brought back
Is the right Aubrey.