The Errand
’On you go now! Run, son, like the devil
And tell your mother to try
To find me a bubble for the spirit level
And a new knot for this tie.’But still he was glad, I know, when I stood my ground,
Putting it up to him
With a smile that trumped his smile and his fool’s
errand,
Waiting for the next move in the game.
.
.
by Seamus Heaney
from The Spirit Level
Faber and Faber, 1996
