JUN 4, poets' corner: bold-faced nonsense

Authors' Note:    Our blog, 'Edifying Nonsense', promotes several forms of creative nonsense, including collections of humorous and definitional poems overlapping with those submitted to OEDILF, an online collaborative writing-site. (parenthetically, accepted OEDILFian verses boldface the attributed key word that is ‘defined’ in the poem. On occasion, the partly completed collections are offered to OEDILFian editor-colleagues as a 'temporary Author's Note', to provide context for the cooperative editing task of rehashing a verse that is still in tentative status.

You can find lots of other verses on this blog under the listing "Poets' Corner".  Click HERE.

 

JUN 3, pathos and poetry (gun control verses): good-guy shooters

 (Editorial comment) Insanity!

 You can review our entire poetic outpouring on this important topic by proceeding to a post on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'; click HERE.

JUN 2, Italian loanwords: oratorio / opera

Today is Festa de la Repubblica, Italy's National Holiday, and we will be initiating a new series of verses ...

Authors' Note: Demand for gaudy Italian opera faded temporarily in the mid-18th century in his adopted English homeland, so George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) composed a series of non-costumed oratorios for combined choir and orchestra. The sixth in the series was initially produced in Dublin, as poor reception in London was anticipated; this was, in fact, the case, but after a number of yearly springtime performances at Covent Garden Theatre, the New Sacred Oratorio gained critical and audience approval, and acquired a bold new name and unassailable status. The tradition that audiences stand for the Hallelujah Chorus is based on the unfounded myth that King George II attended an early show and was moved to stand during that point in the performance.

  The title for the iconic chorus seems to have been set in the Handelian context as Hallelujah, but dictionaries list variants of the Hebrew-derived exclamation ("praise the Lord!"), including Allelujah and Alleluia.

 You can review our entire poetic outpouring about Italian loanwords by proceeding to a post on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'; click HERE.

JUN 1, savoir-faire: bilingual labelling -- grenades

Authors' Note: 

au verso (oh vehr-soh) French for 'on the reverse side'

Bilingual labelling, if you pay attention to it, produces some startling results. In Canada, pomegranates and their juice must be imported. But, in French-speaking parts of the country, we would refer to them as grenades, the modern French term for the fruit. In the circumstance under discussion, the particular juice-box was labelled on its French side as jus de grenade.

An archaic term for the tree and for the fruit, pomegranate derives from the Middle Ages, but seems to have gotten stuck in English as a sort of borrowed anachronism. On the other hand, we have grenadine syrup, a cocktail additive, putatively made from pomegranate juice, but in fact, often concocted from synthetic ingredients.

You can review verses on this topic in a wider context on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Check the post 'Vers Francais: Savoir-Faire' by clicking HERE. 

 

MAY 30, singable satire: Gordon Lightfoot sings "THE WRECK OF THE DANISH ROYALTY"

 

PASTICHE with PARODY-LYRICS

ORIGINAL POEM:  Hamlet's Soliloquy, Act iii, Shakespeare's "Hamlet, Prince of Denmark", 1600.
ORIGINAL SONG: "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", 1976 by Gordon Lightfoot, used primarily for music and meter.

PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, 2014.

KEYWORDS: classics, poetry, pastiche, goldenoldy

See an earlier collaboration of G. Lightfoot and W. Shakespeare in a post of Nov 22 on this blog. 

Now suppose Lightfoot sang Hamlet's most famous soliloquy........... 

Ken Branagh as Hamlet ponders man's fate

THE WRECK OF THE DANISH ROYALTY

A RE-WRITE OF THE HAMLET SOLILOQUY

(to the tune of "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald")

The question is …… Whether ‘tis nobler to suffer,

 Fate’s arrows and stings so outrageous

 Or to be, and take arms against troubling seas,

 And oppose them with action courageous?

To die, not to be; it's just sleep, possibly

- An escape from heart-aches flesh is heir to -

All quiet past that portal, where no longer mortal

- consummation we offer a prayer to.

To die, to sleep, perchance to dream; there’s the rub;

For death’s dreams may provoke dissolution;

And the puzzling dread of that something when you’re dead

Discolours our strong resolution.  

With dagger that’s naked we’d easily make it

To that land whence no traveller’s recovered.

But that puzzles our wills, rather bear our known ills

Than fly off to others undiscovered. 

Explaining persistence of troubled existence,

For Time’s whips and scorns, who would bear’em? 

The haughty, oppressors, and rejecting lovers -

The wrongs and the spurns they don’t spare’em.

And who would bear "fardels" - whatever those are -  

With a life grimy, sweaty and weary, 

Hauling tons of iron ore to the desolate shore
Of that low-lying lake some deem eerie? 

Yet there’s puzzling dread of that thing when you’re dead 

And the pale cast of thought which can sicken,

Enterprise of great moment and pith turns awry          

And thus conscience makes all of us chicken. 

The question lives on …… When the chips are all down,

To bear outrageous fate so much drearier?

Or to be, and take arms against troubling seas,

|And oppose them with action superior?|X2

The Fitzgerald in Nov '75, just prior to the iconic shipping disaster

MAY 29, Ontario nostalgia: commuting by rail

You can review the entire series of illustrated poems about the good old days in Ontario by checking the post 'Ontario Nostalgia' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE. 

links for any date: scroll over to the calendar-based listings of 'Past Posts' in the righthand column on this page, choose your year and then month of interest, and then select (by clicking) the post of your choice.

to continue daily titillations: BE SURE TO BOOKMARK THIS SITE!

MAY 28, Toronto excursion: 'Brickworks', dusk approaching

 

The great blue heron has been featured in posts on this blog HERE, HERE, and HERE.

The ponds are filled with yummy koi.

a midland painted turtle

Check our post about the painted turtle (southern subspecies) HERE. 

The black-crowned night heron has been featured in other posts on this blog. Click HERE. 

See other views of Toronto's Brickworks HERE.

MAY 27, mythed opportunities: 'Infernal' (Dante's Divine Comedy)

You can take advantage of the whole spectrum of illustrated poems dealing with 'Mythed Opportunities' that we have collected on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE!

MAY 26, reptiles: fence lizards

You can review photos and illustrated herpetologic verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Verses about Reptiles (don't worry! no snakes)' on the full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense".

MAY 25, back in Toronto: views in the neighborhood

the red-winged blackbirds are back, too !

 

Cabbagetown horsechestnut in bloom

at Riverdale Farm

deer in the nearby Don River valley

bunny !!!

MAY 24, life in Palindrome Valley: organizing the Palindrome Rally

Authors' Note: Most readers will be familiar with the lap-pool. The loop-pool, a luxury innovation found in Palindrome Valley, enhances swimming in either direction along a circuitous route.

Palindromes related to the material discussed in this poem include:

Harass selfless Sarah.

Ma is as selfless as I am. 

Harass Iris, Sarah.

and Ev, lovers revolve, as discussed in a recent post.

You can review other illustrated verses on this topic by proceeding to the collection 'Life in Palindrome Valley' on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.

MAY 23, toxic vignette: 'mad as a hatter' (the Danbury shakes)

Authors' Note: Erethismus (irritation) mercurialis, synonym for mercurialism, was well-known by Lewis Carroll's time, as signs of chronic poisoning had become common among workers in the hatting industry in which salts of mercury were used in the felting of furs; his character, the 'Mad Hatter' reflects the prevalent stereotype.

  In the US, hat-making was centered in the Connecticut town of Danbury, where the majority of long-term workers were subject to the 'Danbury shakes' as well as other neuropsychiatric manifestations. The plant continued in operation, including the dumping of wastewater effluent, until the early 1940s. It closed at that time due to staffing shortages and the need for mercury in the armaments industry.

   In 2020, a study of fish populations in Danbury's Still River showed alarming levels of mercury; the persistence of this toxic residue reflects, in part, the concept of biomagnification. 

Review all our poems of toxicologic interest by clicking HERE. 

MAY 22, binomial phrases: "bump and grind"

Toronto: welcome back!

welcome back to Toronto

Authors' Note: The above verse features a number of binomial expressions, most of which are in common use. In fact, the "classic" binomial hot to trot, and the authors' proposed "Tease and Please" have the additional appeal of internal rhyme. Generally, because of their catchy appeal and common use, binomial phrases are often chosen as the names of restaurants, bars and small businesses, but the name proposed here for a strip-club is presumably an original use.

To review the poetic effusion that we have accumulated about binomial phrases, proceed to our blog "Edifying Nonsense", and check out the post  'Grandpa Greg's Grammar: Binomial Expressions'. Click HERE!

There is also an entire collection of lyrics to patter songs, somewhat older material, dedicated to various kinds of binomials, that provides more didactic material and an extensive series of examples, and allows you to sing these expressions for your own enjoyment, or for that of others around you. Click HERE !

MAY 21, Carolina lowcountry: farewell, wildlife!

'Til next year, IAC!

Readers' advisory: You can expand any photo on this blogpost, or any other, by clicking on the photo (those embedded in slides are an exception.) 

great egret at a pond in a nearby luxury condo.
Watch your step!

unabashed swimmer in a gatory pond

another suburban pond, close by

a green (Carolina) anole, on patrol

Carolina anole at leisure,
 sunning on our front-yard sago palm

a handsome southern toad,
occasional visitor to our backyard

brown pelicans strolling
 after dinner at the neighborhood 'pelicatessen'

'

paper-wasp mother building her nest

And, here's a verse about another domesticated great egret ...

pelican swimming fantasia

wood stork and Canada goose

a white ibis sits for a portrait

MAY 20, singable satire: John Denver sings "INDIANA SONG"

SATIRE COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, May 2018. Readers interested in this topic might also enjoy Giorgio's lyrics posted on these earlier blogposts...
Dark Schemes
Rosenstein
Brennan's Tweet 
"Get Me Roger Stone - the Song" 

ORIGINAL SONG:  "Annie's Song" by John Denver, 1974.

Enjoy Denver's recording HERE on Youtube. 

PARODY-SONGLINK: To find ukulele and guitar chord-charts to help you accompany "Indiana Song" on your favorite instrument, click HERE. 

BACKGROUND INFO: George Will's opinion-editorial  was published in the Washington Post under the rubric "Trump is no longer the worst person in government". It appeared in our local newspaper on May 10, 2018, under the heading "Mike Pence sets sad standard for governing by groveling."

Here is the link to the particular newspaper column which generated all the interest.

INDIANA SONG

to the tune of "Annie's Song"

  

George Will writes Mike Pence sets
A 'sad standard for ... groveling',
Like at cabinet meetings
Where he's 'humbled' by Trump.
Using barbs like 'oleaginous', 
Like 'repulsive' and 'toady',
George fills up his column -- 
His disdain doesn't slump.

Then George targets invective
At Mike's praise for Arpaio,
At a rally in Tempe
Near the home of McCain.
George invokes Mike's 'vocation'
(Servile ingratiation)
And asks voters repudiate
That mob's M.A.G.A.* again.

*  Make America Great Again, slogan of the 2016 Republican campaign.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

George Will  'conservative political commentator' and popular columnist with the Washington Post Writer's Group.
Mike Pence  Vice-President 2017- . Previous experience as Republican governor of his home-state of Indiana. Described as 'conspicuously devout' by Will, presumably picked for his current post due to his freedom from financial or lifestyle imbroglios. 

Donald Trump  President, 2016-.

"Sheriff Joe" Arpaio   controversial local political figure in Arizona, self-styled as 'America's toughest sheriff', convicted of contempt of court in relation to repeated racially charged practices, 'pardoned' by Trump in 2017.
John McCain   high-profile long-serving senator from Arizona, Republican candidate for President in 2008, struggling with terminal brain cancer at the time of these events.