[Donna English]

Red Red Rose-- Robert Burns

Eeeww, my love has got a red, red nose
That pours like rain in June.
Eeeww, my love has got some malady--
One cough fills a spittoon.

And pale you are, my sickly lass
So matted is your eye,
And I will leave you now, my dear,
Until your cough runs dry.

Until, you’re well, or dead, my dear
I’ll be soaking up the sun.
I’ll be thinking of you nil, my dear
While upon the sand I run.

And fare thee well, contagious love
And fare thee well a while.
I need a some space right now, my love,
At least ten thousand mile!

[Roger Slater]

Sam's is great, but is it a palinode? How seriously must we take the part about retracting something said in the prior poem? Or do you think any sort of parody would fit the bill?

[John Whitworth]

But he is retracting something. Or rather the poem is retracting something the other poem said. The other one said 'Give your money away' and this one says 'Don't give your money away.' I would have said that's quite palinode-ish enough.

[Roger Slater]

OK, fair enough.

Two more Mother Goose Retractions


LITTLE BO PEEP

When Little Bo-Peep had lost her sheep
And didn't know where to find them,
She didn't stay home, or leave them alone,
But followed the footprints behind them.


LITTLE MISS MUFFET

Little Miss Muffet
did not have a tuffet
and couldn't stand curds and whey.

Whenever a spider
would sit down beside her
she'd laugh and invite it to play.

[Shaun J. Russell]

I'd actually written one of these before without thinking of it as a palinode. I think this is a palinode? Must it be in the same form as the original? Not sure if it's any good or not though...haven't sent it anywhere, at least. Probably not amusing enough for the Speccie anyhow.



MARINER, REVISITED

It's been a decade since my last report
Of what occurred that fateful day at sea,
And though my ancient mind plays tricks on me,
I have to make a change of great import;
It's not my way to augment and distort
The truth -- it was not insincerity
But fear that brought about disparity
Of what ensued, and what I said at port.
It wasn't I who shot the albatross--
Indeed, it was a disenfranchised mate
Who doomed the voyage to its well-known fate;
A mutiny arose, but much too late,
For I alone survived to see the loss
Of sanity in favour of blind hate.

[Allen Tice]

Originally Posted by Susan McLean

Oddly, I too know what a palinode is, having translated one by Horace back when I was an undergrad. I wonder if anyone will attempt a Palin-ode, an apology for Sarah Palin. But then, who would accept it? She is unforgivable.

Susan

Oh my, she is a pip. Squeaky. From. A different Alaska than I sort of like. Anyway, since she blew into town just weeks after I returned from Alaska, somewhere on my website I have had to redefine a palindrome this way : In Greek, "palin" means "again", and "dromos" refers to "traveling speedily by foot" (as in the etymology of the word "dromedary").

E. Shaun Russell's item reminds me of 'The Persian Version' by Robert Graves. I'm not going to give you a link, because you need to do some work for yourself, colleagues. It's worth a trip.

A good thread. Maybe I can contribute in due time.

[Martin Parker]

It's worth making passes
at girls who wear glasses.

A Michelin meal makes the plainest ones feel
more grateful with each plateful.

[Marion Shore]

When You Are Old

W.B. Yeats

Two Versions

When you are old and gray and feel like shit,
and snoring by the fire, take down this book--
Oh never mind. It's hardly worth a look.
Besides, you'll probably drool all over it.

**********

When you are old and gray and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And throw it in the fire and curse that schnook
who left you for a younger girl, the creep!

[Marion Shore]

This is just to bitch

I have thrown out the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you probably
bought
at the supermarket

Goddammit
they were disgusting
so bruised
and so rotten


[This is just to say - William Carlos Williams]

[Marion Shore]

Resume Redux

Health care blows;
Layoffs increase;
The ozone hole grows;
We're all obese.

Tyrants oppress;
World leaders lie;
The planet's a mess;
You might as well die.


[Dorothy Parker - Resume]