Jeaneas, Obadius, Patreus,

Were feeling quite unseasonably warm,

It being Hades, after all. They felt

A cooling breeze blow from Elysium way,

And, as the young prince quested, wandered off

Toward the soothing winds.

And as they reached the crest they glimpsed a stream

Flowing with sweet gelato! The sweet scent

Of strawberries enticed our heroes, who,

Forgetting Briam and his noble search,

Ran to the river, and unsheathed their spoons,

Consumed the sweet ambrosia of the gods

And quickly forgot all they ever knew

About the life above.

And called out: "I have found our Melinaus!

She is strapped to a desk, and every night,

Black birds of prey alight upon her head

And eat what she has written in the day."

His companions looked at him askance,

And wondered who this Melinaus was

That news of her could interrupt their feast

Of sweet ambrosial nectar. Patreus

Offered Briam that loving spoonful of

Some sweet gelato. "Try this, strange young man.

It�s like ice cream, but better, there is less

Air content, and more cream. It�s quite divine!"

Young Briam took the spoon, and partook from

The river�s luscious bounty. He became

Just as Lethargic as his sated friends.

He soon forgot of Melinaus and her

Eternal agony in Tartarus,

Just as he forgot his beloved queen

And her ill-fated lover, who cannot

Ever partake of River Lethe�s gifts,

Made, as they are, from dairy products, which

Are still verboten to Toddysseus

Until he shuffles off this mortal coil,

And maybe then can he know happiness

In dairy-product bliss.

O, yes: Gelato. Our eternal prize

Remuneration and atonement for

The suffering of our unhappy lives.

A life of toil, and of endless pain,

Of writing Projects for the hallowed gods

Who, being wise and generous, repay

Our struggles with gelato in the end,

When, Academics Projects done, we go;

Our sprits flee into the glee below.