Anthony Hecht

Anthony Hecht was born in New York City on January 16th, 1923, to German-Jewish parents. He attended Bard College, at that time an experimental branch of Columbia University, beginning in 1940. While

Improvisations on Aesop

by Anthony Hecht (1923–2004)

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16

It was a tortoise aspiring to fly

That murdered Aeschylus. All men must die.

The crocodile rends man and beast to death

And has St. Francis' birds to pick his teeth.

Lorenzo sponsored artists, and the ant

Must save to give the grasshopper a grant.

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