| || hello, drawn, tongue, become, on the double.
Image from the Internet.
The opening poem contains all the words (or variations of them) from today's Jumble.
Comments are welcomed! And couching them in Poetry is definitely NOT required.
Do not explicitly reveal any of the actual answer words until after closing time, but embedding them surreptitiously in comment sentences is encouraged.
25 comments:
Wow, Owen, you're early tonight! I hope that means everything's going great for you.
The jumble was pretty easy, especially the clues. I was not enamored of the solution, once it became apparent; there didn't seem to be a too, too close connection between the phrases -- connection, yes, but not a real identity of meaning.
Oh well, I enjoyed the the depiction of eager students, "Me, me, call on me!!"
Yes, those kids are really eager, Sandy!
I can't imagine they do so well when they're stuck with "remote learning."
FLN: Misty ~ Be sure to check my late postings, esp. my commentary on your Connors family poem!
And can you remember what it was--when you "had to look up the word" in my first poem?
~ OMK
My apologies. I have been reading about early California settlers, including some of the darker events of the 1840s.
The Jumble clue words triggered a memory of a very unpleasant episode, recounted here:
"Double Dilemma"
"Hello," said the note pegged up on the tree.
"I counsel you to stop & rest your beasts.
When I know the best trail I'lł return unto thee."
We'd earlier et our mule. Yea, we'd released
the old cow and drawn the ox from the tongue
of the wagon where he'd fell. Our journey was cursed
and the note did not tell how to pass among
the peaks of the Sierra Nevada. What was worse,
the great hunger was on us, and we had become
vile in our hearts, evil in the eyes of everyone.
~ OMK
Though I speak with the flaming tongues of angels,
If what I say is not true, I am merely spouting fables!
I am become as the tinkling drawn of wind chimes,
The burbling of a fountain reciting foolish rhymes!
But what of that, I'll not be solemn all the day.
There are occasions when with words we need to play!
Saying hello to friends from whom we've been parted,
On the doubling of fun ascertaining who just farted!
Keith, the combination of words for a wagon part and how the horses interact with it seemed to draw my attention, but when I actually tried to write something, Erato insisted on a Biblical oratorical start. I wish she had continued thus with the next verse, instead of sinking into farce. At least your poem of the Donner Party stayed on key throughout.
I hope you don't mind that I shared you paean FLN on my Facebook page.
I think Misty was referring to "kicky (I had to look up the word)" as finding an appropriate adjective for your verse, not any word in the poem. I, on the other hand, had to look up "duenna".
And Gehenna (a place of fire) seemed rather harsh and inappropriate for a prim old crone falling into water. If the fall had been, say, to drenchingly instead of fatally keel, she could have fallen into a dilemma.
My goodness, once again absolutely amazing and delightful poetry from Ol' Man Keith and Owen--my best thanks to both of you for this Monday treat!
Thank you, Owen, for explaining my yesterday "kicky" comment to OMK. You are quite right and I hope that makes it all okay.
Once again, more sentimentality from Misty:
"Happy Couple"
Freddy was a mellow fellow,
she could tell, from his very first 'Hello'.
As he walked across the lawn
she was instantly to him drawn.
He spoke in a melodious tongue
so that every sentence was sung.
Clearly they would soon become
best friends, and each other's chum.
And so without any trouble
they were soon each other's double.
Now in sunny and rainy weather,
they for years have been happy together.
OIC, regarding "kicky," tho no explanation was needed for that word.
It was in fact the kind of word I appreciate--carrying an impact of its own, not unlike the term I used to use in my classes when attempting to explain Brecht's infamous V-Effekt to my students. There have been so many learned translations into English, most of them losing the simple sense of it, that I preferred to substitute "the jolt" for it. The jolt can work on both the macro & micro levels.
"Kicky" had the jolt.
And your switch to farce/"farted" did too, Owen. It may not have been where you wanted to go, but I prefer such a blip to sticking to the same tone, or message, or theme &c throughout. Sometimes of course it can't be helped, but my motto is, If you can make the change, you must. Selah.
I'm flattered you saw fit to reprint my ode.
~ OMK
"Sentimentality" was an interesting choice of words in your intro, Misty. It's a loaded word, with several definitions, but the reason it caught my eye this time is that it is the very word I use when defending my "motto" in my message to Owen above.
I can remember when I first used it in this context. Many years ago when I was directing a production of Chekhov's Three Sisters, I was coaching the young actress playing Irina in the scene when she has a panic attack. Irina is fearful that the childhood she knew is slipping away and she flips out when she "can't remember the Italian for 'window.!"
My actress was doing well in going into her emotion of terror, very convincing in tearfully crying and shuddering. But then as she worked her way back to sanity, she was trying to modulate her panic, to slow herself down and resume her normal speech, and it was totally unconvincing. After two attempts she stopped and admitted, "I don't know how to get back to normal."
My answer was, "You just do it. Don't try to find your way back slowly. The moment you CAN turn it off, do it. Anything else is a sentimentality--as if you owe some allegiance to your emotion."
In "Happy Couple," I wonder if the happiness can last. Freddy wins her over because he is a "mellow fellow," who speaks with a "melodious tongue," practically singing every sentence. That's all we know about him.
And he walks across lawns.
Hmmm.
Sounds like Mr. Smoothie to me. Don't we know these guys who charm with their voices? Montgomery Clift in The Heiress? Or Robert Preston in The Music Man? When do we get the jolt?
I'll take your word for it if you say they stay happy--"for years."
But I'd be more convinced with more data on the guy...
~ OMK
He was drawn to the Marines , the country's pride and glory
Quantico conveniently located but the reality another story.
Become an Officer , charm the girls nothing could be better.
"Hello, stupid!", rasped the acid tongue of Sergeant Nick Vendetta.
If a different life beyond his dreams was Wilbur's fondest wish,
Then he found it. Drill and decorum, marching, calisthenics, spit and polish.
Then the weekly hike. Ten miles with pack , nothing but trouble.
And when cramped and exhausted came the command "On the Double!"
WC
Re. Misty's Mr Smoothie. Out local radio station was just playing This Mr Smoothie
I got all four J's in my head then jotted down letters and tada. Sandy, at least it was a pun, n'est-ce pas?
Duenna pops up in literature. Sort of a female chaperone I think.
Hmm, Donner's pass, starving, lost, desperate. Or a day at Marine Boot camp. Let me think about it.
Owen, perhaps a line ending in "Smelt it, Dealt it"
WC
Btw, On the Double" was my key word to get me poesizing
Wow! Wilbur, that sounds like a memory from your earlier days. Hope it was more than "trouble" and also satisfying in some respects? And I love the way you worked all the Jumble words into your verses, ending perfectly with the solution! Congratulations!
I liked your "sentimentality" story, Ol' Man Keith. And you're right, that my verse doesn't deserve that happy ending. I should have just had them go on a few more dates. But, unlike you, I only focus on how to work the Jumble words into the last lines, and don't pay enough attention to the story. Will try to work on that and improve it in the future.
Enjoyed seeing the Jolt at the end of your poem, Wilbur. A final couplet always aids the whole piece when it provides a reversal or a capper of some kind. Yours did double duty , raising a smile while fulfilling the challenge of including the solution.
I did expect a little more toughness in the Marine experience. I suspect you left out some much hardier stuff. When I read of your ten-mile hike, I felt both lucky that I wasn't there, but also ,"Heck, we used to do seven mile hikes at Boy Scout Camp Royaneh!"
As I recall, no girls were charmed.
~ OMK
OMK, yes but these "hikes" were forced marches with two full canteens, cartridge belts, rifle along with the pack. And all up and down hills. But that was the easy part.
It was the non-stop harassment from the acid-tongued DI that was the killer. Not to speak of the marching, marching, marching. Ironically, lots of laughs with friends I made.
I think I wrote a poem about pugel sticks. Little Jimmy?
WC
Nobody saw my joke/clue!!
Or they thought it was dumb.
Wilbur ~ Yes, but we were 12 & 13.
No, I get it. I'm just having you on. I'm sure Marine drills were MUCH less fun than our hikes.
I think our heaviest equipment were our canteens. I never knew such thirst--before or since!
~ OMK
Sandy ~ If you mean where you doubled "me" and then said "Call on me!"--I admit I missed it.
I liked reading of the kids' enthusiasm, but the hint was too subtle (for me, at any rate).
It's clever-- now.
But maybe that's what's known as a "veiled hint."
~ OMK
No, actually it was the "too, too" as in too+too.
OIC.
Yeah. What did you think of the other one? I kinda think you were clever without realizing it.
It happens. You know, how sometimes we put things together at a subconscious level that carry more meaning than we "intended."
I knew a verbose director once who answered a challenge from an actor who didn't understand what he (the director) was talking about, by saying,
"How do I know what I'm thinking until I hear what I'm saying?"
~ OMK
Well, OMK, I think the me, me was too subtle for moi!!
LOL.
It was the "Call (on [the double]) me!" that cinched it for me.
~ OMK
Owen ~ A brilliant pair on the Corner today!
~ OMK
Post a Comment