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Wanting this to take on the aura of the distant past as with earlier poems, I gleaned a little, and there built up some sense of the watcher and the tallyman both. ‘like a fisherman...' ‘like one harvesting / with a scythe’ give me that pleasure, and an imaginative touch. also ‘as boys at harps’. And ‘as a mouse or familiar’. Four similes, pleasing in themselves, and suggesting the way Elidius responds. (their line - might as well be his line? dexterous dextrous and whom I assume who) On Jan 23, 2015, at 2:02 AM, Lawrence Upton <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Elidius > > I watched one tallying today. By the dock. > > He was superb; managing three boats, five men, > > with a charcoal stick against the white-washed stone. > > Each of the labourers had a different pace, > > doubtless intending to outwit him; he was good. > > He saw, I guess, a line that no one drew, > > a line for each man working. When each crossed > > their line, he marked it, black on white, boldly, > > dividing attention, without it slackening, > > like a fisherman landing prey or guards on watch; > > and at the fifth in every case, he cut > > through the previous four, like one harvesting > > with a scythe, in one movement which could only > > be extended to mark uprights elsewhere > > as fast and as dexterous as boys at harps. > > Only now I think he was left-handed. > > They wanted to cheat him. They didn't dare. > > He took no part in further operation. > > The counted sacks, crates and bottles were snatched > > by other men, whom I assume owned them, > > as a mouse or familiar takes what it can get.