Three sisters – Cally, Era, Terpe -
one day were feeling far from chirpy:
they’d been Muses for so long,
(of epic, love and words for song),
they decided on a change
and swapped three poets in their range.
To have their little bit of fun,
they chose Milton, Jonson, Donne.
(1630 was the year
they chose, or something pretty near)
So now Donne tired of sexy clinging:
instead wrote stuff that needed singing;
whilst Jonson, leaving music’s charms
wrote stirringly of calls to arms;
and Milton, to his great surprise,
penned sonnets to a lady’s eyes.
The girls were right – it proved great fun,
but Zeus discovered what they’d done
and made them swap back pretty sharp;
restored the scroll and flute and harp.
And then, resuming her true role,
each muse reclaimed her poet’s soul.