Top-knotch, as always, Joe...
--
Bob Marcacci
> From: joe green <[log in to unmask]>
> Reply-To: "Poetryetc: poetry and poetics" <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2007 05:42:59 -0700
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: Seeking Correspondance with Fellow Epic Poets
>
> Thankee. You can listen to the first four books of the Limerick Iliad here
>
> http://thejeunessedoree.libsyn.com/
>
> And I think itıs quite easy to see that the sublime rhythm of the limerick
> is maintained throughout. The problem with scansion you seem to have utterly
> baffles me. Here is a section starting close to the verse you cite and it
> seems to me that the limerick rhythm is intact -- as much as the rhythm of
> blank verse is intact in the Bardıs later plays, for example.
>
> Of course, there are artful variationshave to beotherwise the celestial
> music becomes an insistent thumping. For example, notice the drop here
>
> When Mentor suggested he go to
> The deck.
>
> The reader is forced to pause at the end -- and this is what is well, funny
> -- and makes it possible to write limerick after limerick, tell a story, and
> not be bored.
>
> And, of course, the limerick form is not only defined by certain metrical
> requirements (however gracefully improved upon) but by what Eliot has not
> called ³The Matter of the Limerick.²
>
> For example, a series of limericks in which nothing is juvenile or
> scatological would be an abomination. Generations of practitioners of the
> form must be listened to -- hence Nestorıs ³weenie² and all of this would have
> been set forth in the limerick section of ³Tradition and the Individual
> Talent² had Eliot written such a section.
>
> The limerick is honored throughout the poem from the beginning where the
> sexual fetishes of Joyce and Homer are compared, to the middle in which
> Odysseus is attacked by the Klan and saved by James Brown and the
> International Brotherhood of Railway Porters to the end in which Odysseus
> finds himself under the boardwalk of Atlantic city, 1958 with Mr. Pickwick
> staring mournfully (it seems) at the sea and George Burns finally arriving
> bringing the Grace that saves Odysseus.
>
> The ship arrived and there on the sand
> Was Nestor with a samba band
> And the usual crew
> To do what they do:
> Killing bulls for Poseidon the Grand.
>
> Telemachus was snoozing with Toto
> When Mentor suggested he go to
> The deck.
> T. said "What the heck"
> And tried to recover his mojo.
>
> There were 900 times 5 on the beach
> And all calling each each to each
> And dining on tripe
> And bullocks and snipe
> And no one was eating a peach.
>
> Yes, there were nine groups of 500 on the beach
> And everyone calling each to each
> They were devouring entrails
> And guzzling wine served in pails
> Conveniently placed within reach.
>
> There was a chapel to scrapple
> And there the Pylosites would dapple
> Their lips with the entrails
> Of bullocks and whales
> And with huge thigh bones would grapple.
>
> The young man's heart was a-rending
> Because at this time he was tending
> To be a contrarian
> And a strict vegetarian
> And, besides, he was bullockbefriending.
>
> But Mentor just shouted "Let's go!
> This is the kingdom of Nestor you know
> And he will be glad
> Because he liked your Dad."
> Telemachus closed his eyes and said "No."
>
> Then tried to think of excuses.
> And said to Mentor "The truth is
> I'm shy
> And Nestor's such a tough guy
> I don't really know what the use is."
>
> For he had spied the King on the sand
> And he was doing pushups -- with only one hand
> Up and down went his weenie
> Poking from his bikini
> Which couldn't contain his huge kingly gland.
>
> For deep within old Nestor's palace
> Was the most potent sort of Cialis
> Given to Nestor
> By a satyr named Lester
> In a topless bar down in West Dallas.
>
> "Ah, Mentor tell me...my guess is
> Those nude fellows doing bench presses
> In a sort of a ring
> Almost surrounding the King
> Are the princes (a thought which depresses)."
>
> And Mentor said "You're damn right-o!
> Look at their pecs -- and they can fight-o!
> But Telemachus sighed
> And he almost cried.
> Damn it -- something just wasn't right-o.
>
> Was he really the son of Odysseus?
> His build was closer to the Genus Sissyus.
> He thought himself "imperially slim"
> But the joke was on him.
> This engendered an adolescent crisius.
>
> He shivered there in the sea breeze.
> Athena could sense his unease.
> But he grew bolder
> When she touched his shoulder.
> He appeared like a young Hercules!
>
> And, of course she thought it'd be way cool
> Though some might think it quite cruel:
> She transformed Toto
> Into a proto
> Two headed six-balled Pit Bull.
>
> "My name is Rambo Telemachuspous
> And I have strength of a Cantabrigian catapultapous
> I roam strange lands
> And I've come to these sands
> Sent by the the Sanctimonious Octopus.
>
> My hound's name is Chrysanthropus Chrysalis.
> We come bearing the sign of the phallus.
> Greetings great King.
> Of thee we sing
> In the suburbs of Far Western Dallas."
>
> The speech seems a tad bit inflated
> But Athena patiently waited.
> There was a pause.
> Then several rounds of applause.
> T's rhetoric seemed highly rated.
>
> "I come to you seeking my Papa
> And, so sorry, this is just a brief stop
> A word of Odysseus
> (This bull's thigh's delicious)
> And I'm off to seek my dear Papa."
>
> King Priam bounded over the sand
> And took Telemachus by the hand.
> "You? You're the one?
> You're that dear man's son?
> Come here sweet boy! This is grand."
>
> Priam's face was bewrinkled. His hair grizzled.
> But the rest of him was perfectly chiseled.
> And all those Cilaises
> Had given him four pectoralisis
> And what looked like a giant bull's pizzle.
>
> And he called out to his lieges and vassals
> To drink up and cry out many wassails
> There was a great vox humana
> As they went to the cabana
> He explained it was his summer castle.
>
> He lounged there on a fine throne
> Looking quite like Sylvester Stallone
> And said "Oh, my boy.
> I will tell you of Troy."
> Then he wept and gave a low moan.
>
> ³Your Daddy has been in my prayers
> Last time I saw him he was bareassed
> He had a dose
> From the Priestess of Kos
> Ah, we were a fine bunch of slayers.
>
> Did you know that after old Troy was sacked-o
> Your daddy said heıd turn back-o
> We were already at sea
> Some of the guys and me
> Oh, so many got whacked-o.
>
> You Dad said heıd rejoin the King
> Which was, Iım afraid, the wrong thing
> For the King was at Troy
> And that seemed to annoy
> Poseidon who promised heıd bring
>
> All sorts of troubles and woes
> You Dad said ³Well thatıs the way that it goes.²
> And he turned back
> With a complete lack of tact
> With a boatful of varlets and hoıs.
>
> Your father seemed -- can I say-- strangely changed
> And more than a little deranged
> And a strange entertainment
> Showed his derangement
> At nights on the boat he arranged
>
> Something he called ³Vaudeville.²
> I donıt understand it and I never will
> He stood on the stage
> A man of his age
> With a Phrygian trollop named :Lil.
>
> He wore a strange hat. Had a cane.
> And what he did next seemed insane
> He danced and he burbled
> About a lost love named ³Myrtle²
> While the trollop was shakinı her thang.
>
> He stopped and told terrible jokes
> Referred to his warriors as ³mokes²
> Then did a lewd dance
> While that trollop did prance
> Until an enchanted pig said ³Thatıs all folks!²
>
> Then the heaven's began to thunder
> And the pig admitted his blunder
> And Odysseus came back
> With another strange act:
> Baby Alice the Midget Wonder!
>
> This went on for nine nights
> And during each night there appeared a strange light
> A ray from star
> That moved here and thare
> As they danced and sang in delight.
>
> On the ninth night we were sipping sauternes--
> On the deck. I expressed my concerns
> Then down from a star
> Came a strange god with a cigar.
> Odysseus said. "By the gods that's George Burns!"
>
> He said "You think I'm God -- prima facie
> But I think God is Count Basie.
> Here have a cigar.
> I got to get back to that star.
> I'm still looking for Gracie."
>
> Then your father --if you'd seen his face--
> Said "That's it I must go find Grace!"
> The jumped over the bow
> And climbed up the prow
> Of his ship -- and left with no a trace.
>
> My guess is that your Dad is at sea
> Suffering from PTSD.
> Perhaps there's more to find out.
> Go ask Menelaus.
> And now let's talk about me!"
>
> Which he did until Dawn's rosy fingers
> Suggested that they should not linger.
> Then they hopped on a freight
> That stopped at Track 8
> To pick up some Singapore slingers.
>
>
>
>
>
> kasper salonen <[log in to unmask]> wrote: ok, this has obviously been a
> respectfuly epic undertaking (no pun
> intended, what with "peril of death"..), & I congratulate you on
> finishing BOTH homeric paperweights.
> the limericks make for a tone that is farcically light, amusing, &
> delightfully sacrilidgeous...
>
> BUT (& this is the Critical Response part of this response)
>
> to begin with, this is an absolute pain to read. it really is. the
> fenangling with fitting the phrases into the limerick form is like
> watching a fat woman put on a corset. most of the attempts are
> humorous because they're so obviously a struggle to fit & rhyme, but
> fairly soon this becomes tiresome. with this reading, I would suggest
> that the ENTIRE thing be proofread & rewritten with much closer
> adherance ot the limerick metre to make this smooth -- though I'm not
> volunteering for the job.
>
> HOWEVER (& this is the Verdict part of this response)
>
> I've discovered that if both these epics are read as free verse,
> rather than as limericks with the limerick metre in mind, it reads
> better & practically without snags -- all snags, whatsmore, seem
> unabashed & intentional. it seems that the only part of the 'limerick'
> mindset that should be retained when reading these is the necessity
> for (iconically chlidish) rhyme, the scheme & vague length of the
> lines, & the wildly flailing tendency for the ridiculous (which makes
> the Odyssey & Iliad great candidates for the project to begin with) --
> the only problem for me personally is, with my metric background going
> back to junior high, that I can't shake the desire to read this as
> tadaTUM tadaTUM tadaTUM. that, however, is my problem. the rhymes &
> sentence sonstructions are close to comic genius at times, & some are
> simply pleasing
>
>> The ship arrived and there on the sand
>> Was Nestor with a samba band
>> And the usual crew
>> To do what they do:
>> Killing bulls for Poseidon the Grand.
>
>
> SO (& this is the Conclusion part of this response)
>
> well done & thanks.
>
> KS
>
> On 20/06/07, joe green wrote:
>> The Limerick Odyssey is done:
>>
>> http://limerickodyssey.blogspot.com/
>>
>> and the Limerick Iliad is complete
>>
>> http://limerickiliad.blogspot.com/
>>
>> So much for the world as it is.
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
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