Paul Gordon - Things I Didn't Know lyrics

[Jerusha Abbott] Dear Daddy Did you ever hear of Michelangelo? He was a famous artist who lived in Italy in the Middle Ages The whole cla** laughed because I thought he was an archangel Doesn't he sound like one? Even more embarra**ing Somebody mentioned Florence Nightingale And I asked if she was a freshman That joke has gone all over college You wouldn't believe, Daddy What an abyss of ignorance my mind is The things that most girls with a properly a**orted family and friends and a library know by absorption I've never even heard of I didn't know that Henry VIII was married more than once Or Shelley was a poet I didn't know Alexander the Great had conquered most of Greece Or people came from monkeys I didn't know that the Garden of Eden was all just a beautiful myth... I never read Great Expectations Summer On The Lake Euripides' Electra I never met The Two Noble Kinsmen Or ever came across The Merry Wives Of Windsor I always feel like I'm Alice in Wonderland Stranded in Vanity Fair... Once upon a time O Captain! My Captain! I'm so many years behind I'm still so many years behind [Jervis Pendleton] I didn't know that she'd be so clever! I never dreamed of such imagination I never read thoughts so expressive! I really must abstain Well, maybe one more letter... What am I thinking? I'm missing appointments To read what she studied in French I'm baffled and perplexed O Captain! My Captain! I really must get back to work I wonder what she'll write me next... [Jerusha Abbott] I never heard of Meg, Jo, Beth or Amy I'd never been to Dover Beach Or heard the phrase A man's reach should exceed his grasp I feel like The Idiot Or the Toilers Of The Sea O Captain! My Captain! All the world is verse to me A lady with a lamp I see... Now, Daddy, I must sleep But I will think of you For, Daddy, I know there is so much catching up to do