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Discussion Groups / English Usage / May 2009On being passed over for the fourth time
When the first offer came to be laureate My initial response was "You betcha, man." But they phoned me to say they were sorry it Was intended to go to John Betjeman. When old Betjeman curled up his tootsikins They were larking when they brought the news to me, That yours truly would fill Johnny's bootsikins. All the time they preferred Teddy Hughes to me. I was doubtful when next they shortlisted me But I went through the motions of gratitude. I'd a feeling that someone was pissed at me, That they don't want a poet with attitude. Now that Motion is flushed down the lavatory And they've chosen to put Carol Duffy in, It's a sign of the blatant depravity Of that Brown man, the dour Scottish ruffian.  SignatureJames Hogg High Dudgeon > When the first offer came to be laureate > My initial response was "You betcha, man." [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > It's a sign of the blatant depravity > Of that Brown man, the dour Scottish ruffian. <Sound of two or more hands clapping>. E.B. White[1] would have been jealous. [1] Who once wrote (I paraphrase, but not the rhyme): He covered his lips with glycerine For the scenes he had to kiss her in. SignatureBob Lieblich Caboose on the poetical train <snip excellent stuff> > <Sound of two or more hands clapping>. E.B. White[1] would have been > jealous. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > He covered his lips with glycerine > For the scenes he had to kiss her in. AOL to that - right up there with Tom Lehrer's: "Everybody say 'is own Kyrie eleison..." (and the rest of the Vatican Rag, come to think of it). Regards Jonathan "Jonathan Morton" <jonathan.mortonbutignorethispart@btinternet.com> writes: > <snip excellent stuff> >> [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > (and the rest of the Vatican Rag, come to think of it). Not to mention his When you attend a funeral, It is sad to think that sooner or l- -ater those you love will do the same for you. And you may have thought it tragic, Not to mention other adjec- tives, to think of all the weeping they will do. SignatureEvan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------ HP Laboratories |It's gotten to the point where the 1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 |only place you can get work done is Palo Alto, CA 94304 |at home, because no one bugs you, |and the best place to entertain kirshenbaum@hpl.hp.com |yourself is at work, because the (650)857-7572 |Internet connections are faster. | Scott Adams http://www.kirshenbaum.net/ > When the first offer came to be laureate > My initial response was "You betcha, man." [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > It's a sign of the blatant depravity > Of that Brown man, the dour Scottish ruffian. And how sad to learn of the death this week of U.A. Fanthorpe, who should really have been the first female poet laureate. SignatureLaura (emulate St. George for email) >> When the first offer came to be laureate >> My initial response was "You betcha, man." [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] >And how sad to learn of the death this week of U.A. Fanthorpe, who >should really have been the first female poet laureate. Yes, indeed. I seem to recall her poem about Uccello's St George and the Dragon being mentioned here a year or two back. http://www.english.emory.edu/classes/paintings&poems/uccello.html SignatureKaty Jennison spamtrap: remove the first two letters after the @ [...] >> And how sad to learn of the death this week of U.A. Fanthorpe, who >> should really have been the first female poet laureate. > > Yes, indeed. I'm not sure the Laureateship is something I'd wish on a good poet. But CAD says she's found out she doesn't have to write any official occasional pieces at all, so maybe that particular kiss of death no longer looms. Ted's were awful. > I seem to recall her poem about Uccello's St George and the Dragon > being mentioned here a year or two back. > > http://www.english.emory.edu/classes/paintings&poems/uccello.html It was that very one they read in tribute to her on R4 yesterday. SignatureMike. > [...] >>> And how sad to learn of the death this week of U.A. Fanthorpe, who [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > It was that very one they read in tribute to her on R4 yesterday. It is, of course, my favourite of UAF's poems and the one through which I discovered her other work. The painting has always intrigued me. Her take on it is just right for modern times but whenever I got to the National Gallery to look at it* I wonder what Uccello's story was. *two or three times a year but it's not on display at the moment due to redecoration of the room in which it hangs SignatureLaura (emulate St. George for email) >>And how sad to learn of the death this week of U.A. Fanthorpe, who >>should really have been the first female poet laureate. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > http://www.english.emory.edu/classes/paintings&poems/uccello.html Thanks for the link. It's rather good - witty and thought provoking - but I have to confess a dislike for the sort of blank verse where I can't work out why it's formatted the way it is. Why, for example, is the line is broken between - say "to" and "pose" and not "pose" and "properly" (the latter of which feels more like a lot of the later lines, like "built-in//obsolescence". There's something about my brain that cannot be stilled from asking these questions when reading it, which distracts from the poem itself. For those who heard it, where the line-breaks at all audible when she was reading it? SignatureOnline waterways route planner: http://canalplan.org.uk development version: http://canalplan.eu >>> And how sad to learn of the death this week of U.A. Fanthorpe, who >>> should really have been the first female poet laureate. [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > and not "pose" and "properly" (the latter of which feels more like a > lot of the later lines, like "built-in//obsolescence". It's actually a technical difficulty. I agree it's an ugly line-break, but it seems to me that it was her only way to keep the sentence running: breaking after "pose" --or after "chance" --would have forced an unwanted pause. > There's something about my brain that cannot be stilled from asking > these questions when reading it, which distracts from the poem itself. Sure. And there's nothing wrong with that, except that it commits one to reading several times, or learning it by heart, which one may quite reasonably not want to do. > For those who heard it, where the line-breaks at all audible when she > was reading it? I don't think so. But isn't it a wonderfully un-self-centred piece? Self-obsessed poets tend to give me the pip. I love the bits of characterisation: the unpoetic boys'-toys expert, for example, allows himself the thoroughly prosaic economy of "and/or". I doubt if that's been used much in poetry... SignatureMike. |
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