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Antcliff
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Mon Nov 30, 2015 1:11 am

Kettles freeze the water.
Fridges boil the ice.
Diamonds are blunted by cheese.
Novels are written by lice.
You and I will eventually marry.

Water dries the beaches.
Sweets no longer entice.
Novels are written by novels,
Lions are eaten by mice.
You and I will eventually marry.

You and I will eventually marry,
you and I will be happy on rice,
you and I will love one another,
you and I will be ever so nice.
We fray into the future, rarely wrought
Save in the tapestries of afterthought.
Richard Wilbur
Ros
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Mon Nov 30, 2015 9:08 am

Bit of a long shot, eh?

works well though I'm less sure about the last line - does it break the rhythm? I wonder if there's a stronger term than nice (though it's being used sarcastically?)

Ros
Rosencrantz: What are you playing at? Guildenstern: Words. Words. They're all we have to go on.
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Antcliff
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Mon Nov 30, 2015 7:22 pm

Thanks, Ros

Will ponder over alternatives to "nice" that still fit the rhyme.
We fray into the future, rarely wrought
Save in the tapestries of afterthought.
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TonyMac
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Tue Dec 15, 2015 7:58 pm

Just a suggestion along the lines you are considering :)

You and I will eventually marry,
you and I will be husband and wife,
you and I will love one another,
you and I will be partners for life.
All that I had I brought,
Little enough I know;
A poor rhyme roughly wrought,
A rose to match thy snow:
All that I had I brought.
(Ernest Dowson 1867 - 1900)
Antcliff
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Wed Dec 16, 2015 5:16 pm

Greetings, Tony.

Thanks for the suggestion :D

Seth
We fray into the future, rarely wrought
Save in the tapestries of afterthought.
Richard Wilbur
David
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Wed Dec 16, 2015 6:37 pm

I really like it. It has a lovely nursery rhyme quality. It's like the Owl and the Pussycat getting through a slightly sticky phase in their relationship.

Cheers

David
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Mon Jan 04, 2016 5:59 pm

For me this is an enjoyable poem but you set the theme adequately in the first verse and the second adds nothing to that therefore to me seems superfluous unless you can extend the theme with a subtle variation . I also get a sense that the whole line that includes "rice" looks contrived to assist the final rhyme.
Antcliff
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Tue Jan 05, 2016 7:50 pm

Thanks for calling by and for your suggestions LoriJones. And welcome to PG. :D
We fray into the future, rarely wrought
Save in the tapestries of afterthought.
Richard Wilbur
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Wed Jan 06, 2016 9:21 pm

Yes, David's right. It has a Learish quality that's rather endearing. It also makes it's point with clever irony.

I thought the same thing as Ros about the last line. Doesn't quite scan, somehow.

Cheers
Peter
Antcliff
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Thu Jan 07, 2016 7:22 am

Thanks, Peter.

Good to see you about!

Seth
We fray into the future, rarely wrought
Save in the tapestries of afterthought.
Richard Wilbur
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Thu Jan 07, 2016 9:55 pm

I think 'rice' sounding like it's been stuck in for the rhyme is great, it adds to the nonsense of the piece. I'm not sure about the diamonds and cheese line, and should the fridge be freezer :$?
Katherine
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Fri Jan 08, 2016 7:23 pm

This is funny and I like it.

Water dries the beaches.
Sweets no longer entice.
Novels are written by novels, .............. Could you try for something different here? You've already mentioned that novels are written by lice.
Lions are eaten by mice.
You and I will eventually marry.

I hope you'll just live (unmarried) happily ever after! x
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JJWilliamson
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Fri Jan 08, 2016 8:24 pm

I saw this as an ironic poem, Seth

Kettles don't boil ice. Something is out of kilter so the chances of you marrying and being ever so nice to each other are remote.
That's the humour of it, I think. So, in spite of all the odds you actually married, with civility ruling the roost at all times.
This is retrospective teasing methinks. What do really say, and how do you say it, when you're hungry and very tired. "Ever so nice things" :)

I'm not sure the meter's a problem.
I scanned it as largely anapaestic with some iambs lobbed into the pot.
The refrain is essentially written in triple meter. The meter could be tightened, and if I'm honest,
I'd probably write it in triple meter all the way through. "Miss Joan Hunter Dunn" style. BUT, that's simply down
to personal preference.

Enjoyed the read

Best

Bri
Long time a child and still a child
Antcliff
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Sun Jan 10, 2016 10:56 am

Thanks Boo
I think 'rice' sounding like it's been stuck in for the rhyme is great, it adds to the nonsense of the piece. I'm not sure about the diamonds and cheese line, and should the fridge be freezer :$?
A freezer would do a quicker job of not doing it, no doubt. :D Perhaps there are things even less likely to blunt diamonds. I have had some hard cheese in my time.

Thanks JJ
I saw this as an ironic poem, Seth
Yes, you have it. The probability of marriage was intended to go with the other rather improbable things. Civility, ha!, yes...I am glad that came through.

Thanks Katherine
I hope you'll just live (unmarried) happily ever after! x
I will try.
Novels are written by novels, .............. Could you try for something different here? You've already mentioned that novels are written by lice.
Might be right, yes. I suppose I was trying to heap absurdity on absurdity, with the novels written by lice in turn taking up the pen.


Thanks again
Me
We fray into the future, rarely wrought
Save in the tapestries of afterthought.
Richard Wilbur
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