I keep assigning lengthy poems, yet
My students let long poems do them in.
I copy texts from Project Gutenberg,
And paste them in .doc files to count the words:
"But Byron's The Corsair is nowhere near
Childe Harold, Faerie Queene, Aurora Leigh
The Seasons-- Thomson always makes me weep--
Merrill's Changing Light... or Grainger's Sugar-Cane."
Sara cocks her head with sympathy,
"We all must come to terms with long poems."