William Golding Centenary, Nobel Prize in Literature 1983

Mr. Pope walked in the park-
Trim rows of flowers
Embroider’d the well-ordered dark
Where marched the marshalled hours.
The trees stood silent, two by two
Pagodas lifted up their heads
From neatly weeded laurel-groves
And well-spaced flower-beds.
Then down a quiet gravel path-
For Mr. Pope eschewed the sod-
The gentleman pursued his way
To raise his hat to Mr. God.
“Dear sir,” he said, “I must confess
This is a chastely ordered land,
But one thing mars its loveliness,
The stars are rather out of hand”-
“If they would dance a minuet
Instead of roaming wild and free
Or stand in rows all trim and neat
How exquisite the sky would be!”

Sir William Gerald Golding (Cornwall, Inglaterra, 19 de Setembro de 1911 – Perranarworthal, Cornwall, 19 de Junho de 1993) foi um novelista e poeta inglês.