[quote=Douglas G. Brown;280981]...
While ancient mariners, exceeding wise
Into my ear, would whisper “Plagiarize!”.
...
(Douglas, shouldn't that comma go after 'wise' and not after 'ear'?)

Your poem and all the others impress me. I've departed from my usual habit here to read before composing, as I must admit I've not quite grasped what 'Bathos' is. I think I'm starting to get it now. Thanks, all!

Graham,

Thanks for your crit. Yes, that comma is awry, so I've moved it as per your suggestion. Probably my "Confessions of a Plagiarist" piece is not specific enough to meet the "historic" criteria of the comp., but maybe they will consider my Ted Kennedy eulogy.

This is a good chance to have a bit of fun with one's least loved historical figure(s). I'm hoping that many of the Spherieans roundly lampoon their favorite poltroons.

From an online dictionary, Bathos is defined thusly;

ba·thos/ˈbeɪθɒs, -θɔs, -θoʊs/ Show Spelled [bey-thos, -thaws, -thohs] noun
1. a ludicrous descent from the exalted or lofty to the commonplace; anticlimax.
2. insincere pathos; sentimentality; mawkishness.
3. triteness or triviality in style.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Origin:
1630–40; < Greek: depth


Can be confused: bathos, pathos.


Synonyms
2. maudlinness, tearfulness; mush, gush, schmaltz. 3. insipidity, inanity.

So, nothing to do with exploring the ocean depths in a little metal ball then?

Back to the drawing board.

This one's a pig. For me, the main problem is that I see nothing especially bathetic here, just a routine piece of copspeak after two trials that weren't exactly grand tragedy, rather the squalid outcome of petty dishonesty & marital spite.

He wasn't one of the three musketeers was he?

Agreed, Bazza. But that means that it's up to us to invent both the tragedy and the bathos, innit?

Anthony Weiner, NYC mayor?
 

Just when things are getting dull, this comes over the 'net ...

Ex-US Rep. Weiner weighing run for NYC mayor

Wednesday, April 10, 2013 12:40:57 PM

Former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (WEE'-nur), who resigned over a sexting scandal in 2011, says he's weighing a run for New York City mayor this year.

The Democrat tells New York Times Magazine ( http://nyti.ms/10Jnf1d) "it's now or maybe never for me." But he acknowledges that it's a long shot because some people "just don't have room for a second narrative about me."

He says he doesn't know when he'll decide on entering the race, and concedes he'd be an underdog.

Weiner represented Queens and Brooklyn for more than a decade before resigning amid the scandal over his lewd online behavior.

The interview was posted online Wednesday and is scheduled to be published on Sunday.

His wife is Huma Abedin (HOO'-muh AB'-uh-deen), a longtime aide to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

This begs for a bathetic treatment, of the "first narrative " about Mr. Wiener:

How Creepy to Know Mister Weiner
(a text message from a 17 year old girl, to her schoolmates)

How creepy to text Mister Weiner!
When I’d barely turned seventeen
He posted a pic of his wiener,
And claimed it was fit for a queen.

He bragged he was hung like a horse
To all of my Twittering friends.
While his wife’s overseas, he’s the boss;
(When she’s home, he’ll be making amends).

He boasted his “package” was awesome,
As if of gargantuan size.
In high school, I recently saw some
Much bigger, on some of the guys.

As soon as his pictures went viral
He was taken to task by Obama.
His life in D.C. took a spiral;
He’s returned to New York, and his momma.

Now, back at home in Forest Hills,
(Where I doubt that his lifestyle is cleaner);
Just what is he doing for thrills?
That creepy ex-Congressman Weiner.

(I'll have to drop a stanza to make it fit - probably the second one)

Douglas, your pieces are good fun, but I think I should warn you that when the NS specify 150 words, they are expecting prose, and rarely - if ever - accept verse.