tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14524408.post1124020829512825791..comments2024-03-29T09:11:59.617+00:00Comments on Forget What Did: CollaborationJohn Finnemorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09256463878193280694noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14524408.post-7535965903456721482013-03-01T15:43:50.091+00:002013-03-01T15:43:50.091+00:00Ah, a rummage in the pre-Sherlockian archives when...Ah, a rummage in the pre-Sherlockian archives when all was cosy and you could get on with being quietly brilliant and the comments were like a small chat among social equals, rather than an endless stream of praises from adoring worldwide fans. Not that that mustn't be nice - and my word you deal with it with dignity and humour - but, well, this is a bit more relaxed, isn't it?<br /><br />Anyway, there's a section of 'deflated couplets' along these lines in <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Well-versed-Poetry-E-O-Parrott/dp/0140112758" rel="nofollow">'How to be well-versed in poetry'</a>. Some of them have stuck in my head and intrude whenever I hear the real poem. E.g.:<br /><br /><i>When I have fears that I will cease to be,<br />I go and make myself a cup of tea.</i><br /><br /><i>The woods are lovely, dark and deep,<br />And I have Semtex to secrete.</i><br /><br /><i>Stands the church clock at ten to three?<br />Does no one wind the thing but me?</i><br /><br />And, most inescapably:<br /><i>The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold,<br />A sight less than frequent in Stow-on-the-Wold.</i>pjnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14524408.post-65307393199828379012009-10-14T14:25:37.699+01:002009-10-14T14:25:37.699+01:00I like these A LOTI like these A LOTMariannenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14524408.post-49831868911809065732009-10-14T02:04:10.706+01:002009-10-14T02:04:10.706+01:00When I was one-and-twenty
I heard a wise man say:
...When I was one-and-twenty<br />I heard a wise man say:<br />"You're twenty one, the numbers there<br /> go round the other way."simonhttp://www.myspace.com/kanesimonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14524408.post-74938242142697627542009-10-13T17:42:14.381+01:002009-10-13T17:42:14.381+01:00Housman should have been careful about this kind o...Housman should have been careful about this kind of pranking. I really like his stuff, but Alfred must have known his sing-songy meters and rhymes make them rich fodder for the "jam a couplet on the end if this couplet" trick.<br /><br />I myself won't indulge here, but just imagine:<br /><br />When I was one-and-twenty<br />I heard a wise man say<br />[ ... ]<br /><br />or <br /><br />When the lad for longing sighs,<br />Mute and dull of cheer and pale,<br />[ ... ]<br /><br />or, even worse:<br /><br />Oh like enough 'tis blood, my dear,<br />For when the knife was slit,<br />[ ... ]<br /><br />Though the same elements make Housman's poetry good for songs, and I'm really fond of those <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/When-Was-One-Twenty-Butterworth/dp/B000000AKH/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1255451531&sr=8-2" rel="nofollow">George Butterworth</a> settings.<br /><br />Keats, on the other hand, could never resist alluding to seafood stew. Realizing this opened up his oeuvre for me.rifflehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09166475012791861563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14524408.post-60347461438822990062009-10-13T15:19:38.256+01:002009-10-13T15:19:38.256+01:00Have you ever encountered Richard Armour's Pun...Have you ever encountered <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Richard-Armours-Punctured-Poems-Infamous/dp/0912800550" rel="nofollow">Richard Armour's Punctured Poems: Famous First and Infamous Second Lines</a>?<br /><br />The cover illustrates "Tiger, tiger burning bright/ What has caused you to ignite?", and the book includes my personal favourites:<br /><i>The blessed damozel leaned out.<br />"She's sick!" I heard a warning shout.</i><br />and:<br /><i>Believe me, if all those endearing young charms<br />Were removed from your bracelet, I might see your arms.</i><br /><br />Armour also was responsible for <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/428573.Twisted_Tales_from_Shakespeare" rel="nofollow">Twisted Tales of Shakespeare</a> which is my nominee for "funniest book ever".Persephonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15560178981320189795noreply@blogger.com