We sifted through his room at the museum,
Opened it like a tomb; sorted, emptied,
Claimed its small treasures: coins, copper sculptures,
Maps of an Augustan mausoleum,
Tripods, stalled watches, stiff river reed,
Nicked reading glasses, vivid fishing lures.
Stubbornly, the TLS still came,
Week after week, as the excavation
Ended and boxes thumped into the trash,
Reports of books newly born, wild or tame,
Jacketed, crated, and shipped by the ton.
Reviewers plough on, as careers rise and crash—
Few are prized, most pulped, conveyed to landfills,
Compacted like coal, toppled timber, great fossils.

The Oxonian Review features essays and reviews of recently published work in literature, politics, history, science and the arts. It is published by graduate members of the University of Oxford, although it welcomes contributions from other University members and non-Oxford affiliates. Contributors bear sole responsibility for its content, which in no way reflects the views of the University of Oxford.

Founded as The Oxonian Review of Books at Balliol College, Oxford, in 2001, The Oxonian Review publishes biweekly, on Mondays, with a yearly print edition released at the end of each year. Published in print on a termly basis from 2001 to 2008, The Oxonian Review relaunched in January 2009 as an online biweekly with a yearly print run.