Wow, that is sad. My knowledge of literature and poetry is spotty at best but I certainly picked up on the reference without a moment's thought. The ability to make literary references in a few words is a basic aspect of literacy. I suppose their brains are probably crowded with internet memes and celebrity facts and have no space for this sort of more beautiful trivia. Something I love about geeks is that their big brains tend to retain more references like this, so when they talk and listen they can use the whole language, including classic literature.