I have begun a poem in verses of one syllable.

That is rather difficult, but the merit in all things consists in the difficulty.

The matter is gallant.

I will read you the first canto.

It has four hundred lines, and lasts a minute." "My faith, my dear Aramis," said d'Artagnan, who detested verses almost as much as he did Latin, "add to the merit of the difficulty that of the brevity, and you are sure that your poem will at least have two merits." "You will see," continued Aramis, "that it breathes irreproachable passion.