[Roger Slater]

You correctly divined the answer to my riddle, I'm happy to say.

Other than Hamlet, I haven't been able to figure out other people's riddles myself. If the poet or some clever person would start posting answers, I'd be grateful. I'm not very good at solving these things, I'm afraid, though that doesn't keep me from going back and enjoying them after I'm told the answer.

[John Whitworth]

This one's from my book 'The Whitworth Gun' and I reckon you'll get it, Roger.

pulp fiction


the big sleep, the high window,
the little sister, the long goodbye.

the long awakening, the wee small door,
the high sister, the big hallo.

the long sleep, the long window,
the long sister, the short goodbye.

the sleeping sister, the long littleness,
the windowed brevity, the brief adieu

the soaring casement,
the colossal slumber,
the female sibling of less-than-average stature,
the unattenuated leavetaking

(farewell my lovely lady in the lake)

playback

[Roger Slater]

I've been doing the April "poem a day" and riddles are a good way to keep on pace. Here are some I've done over the last week (solutions are in white -- highlight near the end to find them):

RIDDLE

I have a kick, and yet no feet.
I'm good as new, and yet I'm shot.
I'm loaded, but I'm never drunk.
I am not food, but hit the spot. [gun]


RIDDLE

Your eyes are closed
but you can spy
a flock of eagles
in the sky

right beside you
as you soar
beyond the clouds . . . .
and as you snore.

You fell asleep,
but that's not all.
Thanks to me,
you fall and fall.

You fell asleep.
You closed your eyes.
But thanks to me,
you rise and rise. [a dream]


RIDDLE

I do not need my music.
With words, I could get by.
I do not need my lyrics.
Far more than words am I.

But may they both not fail me.
I could not bear the cost.
With either, I can find me.
With neither, I am lost. [a song]


RIDDLE

Except when I'm blinking
my eye remains closed
and yet in those moments
the world is exposed. [a camera]

[Gregory Dowling]

Can we have some answers, please? I'm not that bright and I get quite frustrated with some of these. Roger's and Shaun's system of writing the answer in white is a good one.

[FOsen]

Well, the answer to John's is Raymond Chandler.

Frank

[Jan D. Hodge]

As requested, I have edited in the answer to the riddle I posted above.
Jan

[E. Shaun Russell]

I have put the answer for mine as well.

[Terese Coe]

[quote=Roger Slater;103397]I've been doing the April "poem a day" and riddles are a good way to keep on pace. Here are some I've done over the last week (solutions are in white -- highlight near the end to find them):[indent]

RIDDLE

I have a kick, and yet no feet.
I'm good as new, and yet I'm shot.
I'm loaded, but I'm never drunk.
I am not food, but hit the spot. [gun]


Well, I guessed this was a gun, and guessed another was a song. I haven't even seen these till today, and already the answers are up. But isn't it more fun if the answers are guessed? Why not give hints?

One hint about mine--the answers are not palpable.

Bob, you should have titles--they can't all be called "Riddle"! Even numbers would be better than no title at all, at least for purposes of identification.

John, haven't looked to see whether you gave an answer, but it reminds me of Alice's Adventures etc.

Stumped on the others.

[Roger Slater]

Terese, maybe I'm the minority view here, but to me the real mark of a good riddle isn't its difficulty, and the real fun of a riddle isn't guessing the answer. The mark of a good riddle poem is whether it remains enjoyable and significant even after one knows the answer. The "guess the answer" aspect is really just a pose, I think. We certainly don't want all the fun to be gone when we know the "answer." In a way, many riddles just do what much poetry does, i.e., allow us to see common things in a new light, but the writer of a riddle underlines that aspect by turning it into a puzzle to be solved.

I suppose I'm speaking of the ideal riddle, though. There are many riddles that amount to no more than little puzzles, and they can also be fun. Still, I confess that I am quick to look at the answers when they are available, and I can still appreciate (or perhaps greater appreciate) the riddle's ironic pose when I am in on the irony.

[Terese Coe]

Originally Posted by Roger Slater

Terese, maybe I'm the minority view here, but to me the real mark of a good riddle isn't its difficulty, and the real fun of a riddle isn't guessing the answer. The mark of a good riddle poem is whether it remains enjoyable and significant even after one knows the answer. The "guess the answer" aspect is really just a pose, I think. We certainly don't want all the fun to be gone when we know the "answer." In a way, many riddles just do what much poetry does, i.e., allow us to see common things in a new light, but the writer of a riddle underlines that aspect by turning it into a puzzle to be solved.

I suppose I'm speaking of the ideal riddle, though. There are many riddles that amount to no more than little puzzles, and they can also be fun. Still, I confess that I am quick to look at the answers when they are available, and I can still appreciate (or perhaps greater appreciate) the riddle's ironic pose when I am in on the irony.

First, may I say that I entirely skipped Frank's post with the answer to John's. Of course it's Raymond Chandler--and yet isn't it odd how it has a relationship to Lewis Carroll? Now I have to wonder whether Chandler was scrambling Carroll's eggs for breakfast.

Sigh...Bob. Some of what you say is true. I do take exception to the word "pose," however! And I object to the short attention span one is assumed to have in the Age of Technological gadgetry. Why can't those who want to work at it keep doing so? I like to see others' guesses and wonder about my own or lack thereof...

In any case, I've posted the answers in white for those who feel they can't wait.