Wilfrid M. de Freitas - Bookseller

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The Buyer's Soliloquy

By Wilfrid de Freitas and Susan Ravdin

With apologies to William Shakespeare.


         
To bid, or not to bid, that is the question:
Whether 'tis better for thy o'erdraft to concede
The deeper purse of thy hell-bent foe,
Or continue with thy folly
And by opposing end in penury? To buy: to own;
For evermore; and by owning we mean
The heartache and expense the wretched tome
Brings with it. 'Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be missed. To buy, to own;
To own perchance to sell: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sale we may regret its loss
And would as lief retain the penury
The book hath brought us.
And as we shuffle off this mortal coil,
May give us pause and time to brood -
P'raps we should have let it go more cheaply
To those with richer pockets.
Mayhap it would be best to bear
The saleroom's scorn, thy colleagues' ridicule
And endure the pangs of obvious treasure missed,
And seek out instead the bounty of the
Undiscovered sleeper, which renown
Perforce we cannot share.
'Tis a dilemma devoutly to be wish'd:
To buy for pittance and sell at retail plus
Yet keep thy counsel close, and thereby
Ease the grunt and sweat of weary life.
Thus knowledge doth make money for us all,
And when unto that undiscovered country
We repair, from which no bookseller doth return,
'Twill be a compliment to have it said
Not that conscience did of him a coward make,
But obscure points hard-learn'd, did him well repay.
But soft you now! The auction doth begin ...

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Wilfrid M. de Freitas - Bookseller
P.O. Box 232, Westmount Station
Westmount (Montreal), Quebec, Canada H3Z 2T2
Tel: (514) 935-9581
E-mail: Wilfrid@deFreitasBooks.com

Last updated: 10/05/17
Site maintained by Susan Ravdin