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Topic: Poetic Parodies (Read 1357 times) |
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Zeke the Geke
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Poetic Parodies
« on: Jun 25th, 2003, 1:11pm » |
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WORDPLAY PUZZLE
Three remarkable parodies of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" appeared in issues of Word Ways, a journal of recreational linguistics. Each parody is based on a (different) specific form of wordplay. Only the first stanza of each parody is given here.
What is the form of wordplay in each parody?
Parody One: (Howard W. Bergerson)
Midnight intombed December's
naked icebound gulf.
Haggard, tired, I nodded, toiling
over my books.
Eldritch daguerreotyped dank
editions cluttered even my bed;
Exhaustion reigned.
Suddenly, now, a knocking, echoing
door I cognized:
"Eminent Boreas, open up no door!
Go, uninvited lonely frigid haunt!
Avaunt, grim guest -- and roar!"
Parody Two: (A. Ross Eckler)
On one midnight, cold and dreary,
while I, fainting, weak and weary,
Pondered many a quaint and ancient
volume of forgotten lore,
While I studied, nearly napping,
suddenly there came a tapping,
Noise of some one gently rapping,
rapping at the chamber door.
"Oh, some visitor," I whispered,
"tapping at the chamber door,
Only one, and nothing more."
Parody Three: (A. Ross Eckler)
On a midnight, cool and foggy,
as I pondered, light and groggy,
Ancient books and musty ledger
not remembered any more,
As I nodded, all but napping,
there I sensed a muffled tapping,
Very much a hushful rapping,
just behind my attic door.
"'Tis a guest, mayhap," I muttered,
"knocking at my attic door --
I can't judge it's any more."
Parody Four: (anonymous)
Note: The wordplay in this parody is the same as for the first one, but in this case, Poe's rhyme and meter is retained. It is included here mostly because of its wonderful use of English.
One November evening, nodding over volumes ever-plodding,
My bedeviled eyes regretting every volume, evermore
Nincompoopishly I noodled, garnered nonsense-rhymes, or doodled,
Doing interlineations nine-times gerrymandered o'er:
Vain, elusive ruminations, variations on "Lenore,"
Uttering mutterings encore.
Shh! Egad! Verandah-tapping! Ectoplasmical rap-rapping
Preternaturally lapping one's dilapidated door!
Inchwise noise gone madly yowling by each dulled ear, vampire-howling
Implings licking every doorway, every yielding entrydoor,
Shades ranged everywhere, grim rappers ever tougher to ignore,
Noisily gnashing extempore.
"Visitors!" exclaimed, rewoken, Yours Voluminously. "Oaken
Laminationwork unbroken, metalclad exterior,
Even vault-thick engine-metal reinforcement may outfettle
Regulation Elementals, not Immeasurables nor
Cosmic Omnicompetences. My poor ostel's open. Pour
In, sweet heebiejeebs, like yore."
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tohuvabohu
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1. Wordplay One rewrites dreary Poe's lines, as you
only need examine rigorously each word's revealing initial to easily solve.
Does result ever actually reach yet point of ending?
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wowbagger
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Re: Poetic Parodies
« Reply #2 on: Jun 26th, 2003, 3:53am » |
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Although I don't have an answer for the wordplay puzzles, I'd like to throw in another pastiche. Not sure whether this can be said to be a play on words only, though.
Poe, E.
Near a Raven
Midnights so dreary, tired and weary.
Silently pondering volumes extolling all by-now obsolete lore.
During my rather long nap - the weirdest tap!
An ominous vibrating sound disturbing my chamber's antedoor.
"This", I whispered quietly, "I ignore".
by Mike Keith, the whole poem can be found here
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