[basil ransome-davies]

JUDE THE OBSCURE

Folk loved to hear Jude perorate;
He dearly loved to speak;
But what he said was nubilate,
Caliginous, oblique.

Some took him for an orphic sage,
While others thought he dealt
In witty, learned persiflage –
Too deep for them, they felt.

His abstruse, gnomic, zen-like style
Held audiences pent
In awed, suspenseful silence while
They pondered what he meant.

Yet those who knew him best agreed
That – not to be unkind –
Old Jude, apostle of the weed,
Was stoned out of his mind.

[Roger Slater]

That's a winner.

Meantime, I can only manage lame little ditties, which I hope are only my way of warming up:


Finnegan's Wake

Ever since Finnegan bought his boat,
it's hard for me to stay afloat.

The lake was quiet. Finnegan spoiled it.
The lake was calm. Finnegan roiled it.

He zooms too fast across the lake.
How can I swim in Finnegan's wake?

[Janice D. Soderling]

The threads in this forum always make me happy for hours after I have read them. So much talent in so little space--John and his faithful band of merry men and women.

[Ann Drysdale]

Pssst. Bazza. Line 11? Suss - pence?

Forgive me. I speak as one still struggling with three men in a boat...

[Roger Slater]

I had the same reaction that Ann did to "suss-pense," but I figured it was British thing so I said nothing.

[John Whitworth]

Ah Bazza. I as waiting for your entrance. And you never disappoint. Roger. Surely Finnegans wake is nearly there. You need some more lines.
There's a poem called - what is it called? It's about Finnegan the engineer and Flanagan his boss and it contains some fine lines ripe for stealing. something like (on a minor derailment)

Finnegan to Flanagan
Off agin. On agin.
Gone agin, Finnegan

[basil ransome-davies]

I certainly didn't think of it as a reversed foot when I wrote it, so this may be a case of the subjective, idiosyncratic pronunciation. In any event, the dictionaries are massed brutally against me. I'll have a think.


bazza

[basil ransome-davies]

That fixes it, I think.

[Roger Slater]

Yes, much better. You will certainly win, which admittedly isn't a very bold prediction on my part when it comes to you.

[Don Jones]

Ulysses

Stately plump, the novel reads “Usurper,”
Concluding chapter one. In two, the gloom:
Stephen is depressed as low-paid teacher.
In three, the ineluctable. L. Bloom
In four eats inner organ meat. In five
Who dreams of love as “Flower.” At the grave
In six, he broods on death. In seven, dive
Of clanging presses. Eight, his name to stave
Off cuckold via Boylan. Nine, the theme’s
Stephen’s Hamlet. Ten, vignettes. Eleven,
Molly cheats while Bloom in twelve hears dreams
Of Eire’s freedom, then young hand-love!, then
Hospital vigil’s literary styles
Before, fifteen, the brothel’s probing mess,
Where Stephen/Bloom connect, then false clue's wiles,
Yet, seventeen, Bloom’s home! And last . . . “yes. Yes.”

This probably fails the humor litmus test but I thought the notion of "summarizing" this novel in sixteen lines irresistibly fun.