Thanks, Carol, and interesting point, bear. Anyone ever hear of a 'mishy-phen'? Three lines, rhyming aaa, any regular meter, and a hypen error ending lines one or two.

For example:


Correct hyphenation, I vow,
is important when dealing with cow-
orkers in poetry now.

In novels of Agatha Christie,
one seldom will notice a misty-
ped word in the text of her twisty.

So never be one of those guys
who write incorrectly with flys-
watter words that are scattered to skies.


The best ones include bad hyp-
henation that ties two connected words together for a double entendre.

A 'pun' mishy:


I once knew a sweetie named Bubbles,
the lady I paid for her troubles-
hooting my tennis, at doubles.

Great Scott! You've resorted to prose
in describing the mishy-phen!
Should we throw Hughie out on his nose?
Let's vote; is he out or in?

If we out him, he's probably in,
the times being such as they are:
A better solution
might be dissolution:
Can I have the mishy-phen car?

(music)

Hugh used prose in a rhyming
chiming
room and now Carol wants to kick that prosing lout
out
but put it to a vote--so we get to play
empereor for a day.
I say keep him in, laughs is laughs and all that and considerng the furor over scanning this poem and the poopie humor of that one
frankly we can use the fun
no matter how terribly horribly no good really bad no I mean really REALLY bad way it is done.
But Hugh
an off-the-frayed cuff suggeston for you.
If you ever want to or even need to prose again
then
consider doing what this poem does--
mishmashed doggrel just because
it sure do fit
though none-too-well the rules of the room. Ok point made--at least I hope--so time to quit.




[This message has been edited by nyctom (edited January 16, 2002).]

Elaboration of Nyctom's point

There are those
Who turn up a nose
At lineated prose
But Carol's only requirement was rhyme
So, Hugh, you mustn't regard yourself as pond-slime.
Of course, Carol does mention that we have the right, as we please, to choose a meter,
And from this it seems to follow, when you really think about it, that, should it please you, you might not use a meter.
Just be sure that whatever you say, whether coldly reasoned or passionate
Has a dash of Ogden Nash in it.
And since Nash is, with me, a long-time favorite,
If others do better at this, I'll savor it.



[This message has been edited by ChrisW (edited January 16, 2002).]

You've got it, Tom and Chris!
It needn't be symmetrical
or even wax poetical
as long as it rhymes like this.
(Of course anyone
can just ramble on
placing a pause
in sentence or clause
when a rhyme word appears,
my dears.)

Rhyme restricts one's choices, though.
I had a thought in mind to share
that did not involve a red bungalow,
had nothing to do with the anthrax scare,

but what it involved didn't rhyme very well
and so I was forced to write what I did
as Dante was forced to write about hell,
beholden to rhyme, his true subject hid.

"passionate/nash-in-it"?
Gee! I can picture chris
dashin' it
off with a grin on his face,

and frankly, this forum
's inclined to consider
trochaic decorum
the acme of grace,

so this sweetly irreverent,
metrically mangled
poem's a benevolent
shifting of pace,

and we should be thanking
chris very profusely
for making us laugh while he's yanking
our chains.


[This message has been edited by bear_music (edited January 18, 2002).]

It seems that I managed to fail
my post with a synchronous male-
volence that put me in jail!

Bear Music, square music's
just not your thing, is it?
Trochees and anapests
bore you to tears?

Death to pentameter!
It's so repetitive,
takes too much stamina,
grates on my ears!

[This message has been edited by Roger Slater (edited January 16, 2002).]