PLAYFUL POESYBy Nirmaldasan(nirmaldasan@hotmail.com) -- Web-published February 2017 --
Poetic Prose Think about this trilogy. First came Rocking Pegasus, in which my Muse was upon a rocking horse. And then came Literary Trivia & Curiosities, in which the rocking horse metamorphosed into a rocking chair. After many years, in February 2017, soars Playful Poesy with wings of wax. Paradise Lost In Seven Tweets 1/7 Eve arose. 2/7 Adam was asleep. 3/7 She went for a walk. 4/7 She ate an apple. 5/7 She gave Adam a bite. 6/7 He tasted it happily. 7/7 God declared them sinners.Chess Clerihew Judit Polgar Is a twinkling star. Her moves entrap and entrance The victim in a checkmating dance!Chess Limerick World champion was Gary Kasparov, All were afraid of his every move! Though he touch’d a piece and said no And even once slamm’d a door, Chess goddess Caissa loves Kasparov! (Alternative ending: The chess world worships Kasparov!)Auden Tanka The Auden Tanka has only six lines Which don’t rhyme at all. All the odd lines have seven words, The even lines have five. The words may be short or polysyllabic Expressing poetic feeling or thought.Score Verse We know a score is twenty, So score verse simply is: Twenty letters to a line, Not a letter more or less. Ev’ry line obeys the rule, Every line such as these: So score verse simply is, Score verses simply are: Twenty letters to a line, Not a letter less or more.Free Verse: The Mango Weevil A mango weevil laid an egg in a flower. It looked at its shadow in the river below and flew away. When the egg hatched, the flower had already become a fruit and so the young weevil was trapped in the seed. The mango ripened and fell into the river and floated on and on … down the hill and through the fields and sandy plains … and into the sea. There it was caught in a fisherman’s net. The fisherman sliced the fruit and the weevil flew out of the seed. But is the weevil really free? The poor creature is sick at sea and flies to and fro knowing not that its home is far away.Visual Verse dis- placed w e e v i lEcho Verse: The Displaced Weevil Voice: I’ll sing a song of weevil Echo: Evil Voice: In evil hour weevil trapped Echo: Our weevil trapped Voice: Within the seed Echo: In the seed Voice: Fate bade the mango Echo: Go! Voice: And the mango went you know Echo: No Voice: Dropped from tree freely Echo: Really Voice: Into the stream and sea Echo: See! Voice: Behold the fisherman! Echo: Hold the fisherman! Voice: Too late … Echo: Ate Voice: Like an oaf ate Echo: Fate Voice: But the weevil flies free Echo: Flies free? Voice: May be no Echo: Know Voice: By Fate its world is placed Echo: Well displaced Voice: Well, the weevil -- it flies! Echo: Ill it flies! Voice: Can we save the weevil? Echo: We will! Voice: If there’s a wee will Echo: Weevil Voice: Thereof lies a way Echo: Flies away!Transliteration (of my untranslateable Tamil verse) Uppu uppu. Enna uppu? Kal uppu. Enna kal? Valiba kal. Enna valibam? Azhagu valibam. Enna azhagu? Kattazhagu. Enna katta? Nattu kattai. Enna nadu? Nanjai nadu. Enna nanjai? Alavu nanjai. Enna alavu? Adi alavu. Enna adi? Dharma adi!Quantitative Feet (slow is half note, quick is quarter note) Slow-slow Slow-quick Quick-slow Quick-quick Slow-slow-slow Slow-slow-quick Slow-quick-slow Quick-slow-slow Quick-quick-quick Quick-quick-slow Quick-slow-quick Slow-quick-quickQuantitative Paradox (Proves the impossibility of quantitative verse in English) Slow-quick-quick, quick-quick-slow Short is long, long is short (short has a long vowel, long has a short vowel, according to the Concise Oxford Dictionary)
Poetic Puzzle 1 Wh_n _ w_k_ _p fr_m _ h_t s_mm_r n_ght, S_ h_t th_t _ h_d sl_pt _n m_ _nd_rw_ _r, Th_ h_ _t h_d m_lt_d _ll th_ w_rld's _c_, _nd _ w_k_ _p w_th _ p_l_r b_ _r.Solution To PP1 (T. Ashwin Kumar’s ‘Waking Up With A Polar Bear’) When I woke up from a hot summer night, So hot that I had slept in my underwear, The heat had melted all the world's ice, And I woke up with a polar bear.Poetic Puzzle 2 (Fill the blanks with consonants or gaze at vocalic beauty) _ _e_ I _ _a_ _ _ _u_ _ _e o_ _i_e’_ _o_ _, A_ _ _a_ _ u_o_ _y _i_ _e_ _a_e_ _, _ _e_ _ _a_ _ _o_ _y _ _ou _ _ _ _ _o_ _ _y _ou_ _ _i_ _ _ie_ _ _i_ _o_ _e_ _.Solution To PP2 (Nirmaldasan’s ‘Dejection’) When I shall stumble on Time’s rock, And fall upon my hidden talent, Then shall not my thoughts mock My soul which lieth discontent.Poetic Puzzle 3 (The words of each line are arranged in alphabetical order) and canna eat hae meat some and eat it some that wad want and but can eat hae meat we we and be Lord sae thankit theSolution To PP3 (Robert Burns’s ‘The Selkirk Grace’) Some hae meat, and canna eat, And some wad eat that want it, But we hae meat and we can eat, And sae the Lord be thankit.Acrostic Cento (Lines taken from several of Willard R. Espy’s verses in Words To Rhyme With to spell his name and form a montage)
White is the snow upon the parapets Rage safe in arms of rampage lies
Each intent on his affair *An acronym: President Of The United States
Magic Crosswords G O O N A T E T H E E E L T H E Y H A V E E V I L Y E L L O L I V E L I N E N I N E R T V E R V E E N T E RParody: Papa Won’t Preach (Apologies to Madonna and the lyricists) Medo you know I was already upset ’Cause you were always my little girl And I do know by Jove You’re not a baby I never taught you right from wrong You need no help, Maddy please be strong You sure are young at heart And I know what I’m saying The one I warn’d you all about The one I said you could do without You’re in an awful mess, and I don’t mean maybe -- please [chorus] Papa won’t preach, I’m in trouble fool Papa won’t preach, I’ve been losing cool Glad you made up your mind, you’re keeping your baby, oh You’re gonna keep your baby, mmm … I hope that he’s going to marry you And raise a little family too Maybe you’ll be all right Not a sacrifice Though your friends keep telling you to give it up Saying you’re too young, you ought to live it up What you need right now is some good advice, please [chorus] Maddy, Maddy if you could only see Just how hard you’ve been treating me You’d ask him to marry right now ’Cause you have lost your virginity, so please [chorus] Papa won’t preach, I’m in trouble fool Papa won’t preach, I’ve been losing cool [repeat] Oh, you’re gonna keep your baby, ooh No, can’t stop loving you Maddy I know, I’ll cradle your babyThe Shorter ‘Waste Land’ (Apologies to T.S. Eliot and none to Ezra Pound) April is the cruellest month. That corpse you planted last year in your garden, Has it begun to sprout? Will it bloom this year? I will show you fear in a handful of dust. Madame Sosostris, famous clairvoyante, Had a bad cold, nevertheless Is known to be the wisest woman in Europe With a wicked pack of cards. [Seven eight lay them straight.] Tell her I bring the horoscope myself: One must be careful these days. The time is now propitious, as he guesses, The meal is ended, she is bored and tired, Endeavours to engage her in caresses Which still are unreproved, if undesired Flushed and decided, he assaults at once; Exploring hands encounter no defence; His vanity requires no response, And makes a welcome of indifference. When lovely woman stoops to folly And paces about her room again, alone, She smoothes her hair with automatic hand, And puts a record on the gramophone. [One two Remove your shoe Three four Shut the door Five six Choose your chicks Seven eight Lay them straight Nine ten Come again] To Carthage I came Burning burning burning O Lord thou pluckest me out O Lord thou pluckest Burning What is that sound high in the air? Murmur of maternal lamentation. Phlebas the Phoenician, a fortnight dead, Forgot the cry of gulls, and the deep sea swell And the profit and loss. A current under sea Picked his bones in whispers. As he rose and fell He passed the stages of his age and youth Entering the whirlpool. The boat responded Gaily, to the hand expert with sail and oar The sea was calm, your heart would have responded Gaily, when invited, beating obedient To controlling hands. Here is no water but only rock Rock and no water and the sandy road The road winding above the mountains Which are mountains of rock without water. Your shadow at morning striding behind you. And your shadow at evening rising to meet you. Shall I at least set my land in order? Datta. Dayadhvam. Damyata. Shantih shantih shantihFarewell Adieu! Adieu! The wax is melting fast Adieu! Adieu! Pegasus soon will fall with me And rock on and on Adieu! Adieu! But I find it’s only a sleep Upon a rocking chair To dream on and on Adieu! Adieu!
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