Song for Pythagoras
By Dannie Abse
White coat and purple coat
a sleeve from both he sews.
That white is always stained with blood,
that purple by the rose.
And phantom rose and blood most real
compose a hybrid style;
white coat and purple coat
few men can reconcile.
White coat and purple coat
can each be worn in turn
but in the white a man will freeze
and in the purple burn.
Copyright Credit: Dannie Abse, "Song for Pythagoras" from New and Collected Poems, published
by Hutchinson. Used by permission of The Random House Group Limited,
http://www.randomhouse.co.uk.
Source: White Coat Purple Coat: Collected Poems 1948-1988 (Penguin Putnam Inc., 1994)