[John Riley]

Yes, it's lovely and I know why it hurts. When my daughter was small anything that made her emotional was "mean." If I played a sad song she would cry and say it was a mean song. Using her criteria this is a mean poem.

[John Whitworth]

In what way is the bicycle/icicle rhyme particularly contrived? The messenger HAD a bicycle and 'cold as an icicle' is not a particularly unusual turn of phrase. I like the poem and I think the ruined version does indeed point, as Lance said, to the felicitous phrasing. I can imagine someone teaching a class of sixteen-year-olds (good ones I mean) using just such a tool.

[Williamb]

Originally Posted by John Whitworth

In what way is the bicycle/icicle rhyme particularly contrived? The messenger HAD a bicycle and 'cold as an icicle' is not a particularly unusual turn of phrase. I like the poem and I think the ruined version does indeed point, as Lance said, to the felicitous phrasing. I can imagine someone teaching a class of sixteen-year-olds (good ones I mean) using just such a tool.

It seems contrived because:

Q: Number of times I've heard someone say, "cold as ice."
A: Gazillions.

Q: Number of times I've heard someone say, "cold as an (any) icicle"
A: Zero.

Of course the messenger had a bicycle. JCR needed that for the 'icicle' rhyme.


(Just kidding, I don't really care one way or the other.)

[Lance Levens]

Wiiliamb

Take a glance at the first four poems and their rewrites. That'll give a better overall look at what Snodgrass is about., From a teaching point of view I think it's a helpful tool.

Lance

[Williamb]

Originally Posted by Lance Levens

Wiiliamb

Take a glance at the first four poems and their rewrites. That'll give a better overall look at what Snodgrass is about., From a teaching point of view I think it's a helpful tool.

Lance

Okay, my inititial comment was off the cuff, not well thought out. Pax.