Jigsaw Puzzles & The Hobbit

Monday, August 2, 2021

Aug. 2, 2021

| |
| | proud, naval, guitar, expose, apparent.
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.

15 comments:

  1. -----------
    [Chet's beginning to ramble, he gets a signal to wrap it up]
    Apparently he used up his time, Laurel* just emitted a long sigh
    From past experience he knew she'd start coughing bye and bye
    "And so", Chet says, "I accepted what I was told and took action
    And I'm proud to say I have a year sober and I've finally gained traction
    [Now it's Lois turn ]
    "What you see before you is not the person who arrived at the halls
    Though less than 30 years old I'd suffered the worst of life's many pitfalls
    Drink took me quick, I hung at the clubs and hooked up with the lead guitarist
    I later dumped him and found a biker who preferred to talk with his fists
    With rings in my ears and naval I finally ended up in rehab
    When I left the place I felt exposed but decided to give AA a stab.

    WC

    *Lois's sponsor(c 7/14,15)

    ReplyDelete
  2. "Naval Theme"
    The folk guitarist's repertory
    exposed a maritime trim.
    Apparently proud of his service's glory
    he regaled the crowd with "Anchors Aweigh"
    and "The Sloop John Bay,"
    and the glorious "Navy Hymn."
    ~ OMK

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well that was short and sweet. I had to look up the words. Duh, a maritime theme indeed. But it was the Sloop John B where the mate ate up the grits and corn. And one thing songwriting agrees on: Sheriffs are mean and nasty as CCR attests

    WC

    Misty will be entertaining as to how she puts those J's together

    I'd already chronicled Chet's recovery so it's Lois's turn. We had some of her story from mid July on.

    WC

    ReplyDelete
  4. "Talent"

    Gary became a big star
    for playing a brilliant guitar.
    His audience was totally wowed
    and proud to be part of a crowd
    at a naval concert in France
    to hear his superb performance.
    His talent was so inherent
    and its brilliance quite apparent.
    When he finished the crowd arose
    and their cheers did their pleasure expose.
    Then back home, in his quiet life,
    Gary played to his kids and his wife,
    who said, "Gary, you are by far
    our favorite guitar star."

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wilbur, Lois' story is sounding worse than Chet's. So glad
    they're both talking about the past and not the present.

    And soooo glad I was never attracted to alcohol. Cigarettes were bad enough, until I gave them up, lo, these many years!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lois' tale is short if not so sweet, Wilbur. I take it that the common back story of AA'ers is living a life of sorrow and regret before recognizing they can actually take things in hand through the wisdom of the Big Book.
    Does this mean that the notion of the Happy Drunk is a myth? Or is it that such persons never show up in "the halls"?
    I think of my first wife's Uncle Walter, a guy who was frequently snockered & obnoxious to others but always seemed to be a happy soul.

    And Yes, of course, it is "The Sloop John B," but guess what?
    Doesn't rhyme.
    LOL, Then again, my Jamaican folk singers' accents are different than the Kingston Trio's.
    ~ OMK

    ReplyDelete
  7. The mouse on my desktop is not working, so I am stuck one-finger typing on this iPad.

    Glad to see Gary has a fan base at home, Misty, and not just at French naval concerts!
    The French zey are a fickle peoples, no?
    Good job today. Thanks for the treat. Almost perfect couplets!

    Now I have to revive my old laptop, to seek help on line regarding my dead mouse!
    ~ OMK

    ReplyDelete
  8. So sorry to hear about your dead mouse, OMK. Hope you can get a perky new one.

    Can't believe your complex brief verse contained all the Jumble words and solution. Very clever and entertaining--many thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  9. And, Wilbur, you did it too--worked all the Jumble words and solution into your encouraging conversation between Chet and Lois today. My goodness, Lois's story is much tougher than I thought it would be, but she too is clearly trying to work in the right direction. What difficult lives your two figures have endured in their pasts. I hope a good future lies ahead for them.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ok, "She's at it again." No need to read this if it's not interesting to you.
    Uu7
    To continue with other poets -- though I really enjoy some of Elinor Wylie's poems, my favorite poet in general is John Donne. This is because I admire his use of the language, not because I always admire his ideas. In fact, many times I am tempted to smack him upside the head, because of his constant harping on "faithless women". I think John probably had an active love life with affairs that didn't last. And apparently it never occurred to him that their transience might have more to do with him than with the women! Here is a famous example of "blame the women".

    Song: Go and catch a falling star
    BY JOHN DONNE

    Go and catch a falling star,
    Get with child a mandrake root,
    Tell me where all past years are,
    Or who cleft the devil's foot,
    Teach me to hear mermaids singing,
    Or to keep off envy's stinging,
    And find
    What wind
    Serves to advance an honest mind.

    If thou be'st born to strange sights,
    Things invisible to see,
    Ride ten thousand days and nights,
    Till age snow white hairs on thee,
    Thou, when thou return'st, wilt tell me,
    All strange wonders that befell thee,
    And swear,
    No where
    Lives a woman true, and fair.

    If thou find'st one, let me know,
    Such a pilgrimage were sweet;
    Yet do not, I would not go,
    Though at next door we might meet;
    Though she were true, when you met her,
    And last, till you write your letter,
    Yet she
    Will be
    False, ere I come, to two, or three.

    See what I mean?

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm a Donne fan, too, Sandy--along with most of the metaphysical poets. I love their colloquial language.
    As for Donne's attitude toward women, I can only wish there had been a female contingent among the authors.
    Those guys were great at wooing.

    "Had we but world enough and time,
    this coyness, Lady, were no crime..."

    The opening to Andrew Marvell's "To his coy Mistress." Know it?
    ~ OMK

    ReplyDelete
  12. But always at my back I always hear
    Time's winged chariot hurrying near

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oops, drop the first "always".

    ReplyDelete
  14. Yes!
    The whole thing is a joy!

    How about this ending? --
    "Let us roll all our Strength, and all
    Our sweetness, up into one Ball:
    And tear our Pleasures with rough strife,
    Thorough the Iron gates of Life.
    Thus, though we cannot make our Sun
    Stand still, yet we will make him run."

    A great sense of humor. I wish I'd known the guy.
    What a way to use couplets!
    How he gives enough punch to the rhyme endings,
    yet keeps the sense going past the first rhyme word.
    ~ OMK

    ReplyDelete
  15. Sandy, fln, ironically as I checked back and saw your Donne reference I realized it fit in with my rereading of Anna Karenina.

    There are two couples: The Karenins and Levins. The latter have just married and are blissfully in live.
    The former very unhappy and Monsieur K certainly echoes Donne's thoughts on the fickleness of women.

    Anna has abandoned MK and run off with Vronsky. Theirs is a torrid love affair; He's given up a career, she a son.

    WC

    ReplyDelete

Normal civility rules apply. No bullying, limited tolerance for profanity.
Comments are posted in a pop-up window, and after you close the pop-up, you'll need to 🔄 refresh 🔁 the page to see your comment appear.