Brosing the web for examples of the dipodic, I stumble on this by AEHousman
(Last Poems):
XVIII
Oh who is that young sinner with the handcuffs on his wrists?
And what has he been after that they groan and shake their fists?
And wherefore is he wearing such a conscience-stricken air?
Oh they're taking him to prison for the colour of his hair.
'Tis a shame to human nature, such a head of hair as his;
In the good old time 'twas hanging for the colour that it is;
Though hanging isn't bad enough and flaying would be fair
For the nameless and abominable colour of his hair.
Oh a deal of pains he's taken and a pretty price he's paid
To hide his poll or dye it of a mentionable shade;
But they've pulled the beggar's hat off for the world to see and stare,
And they're haling him to justice for the colour of his hair.
Now 'tis oakum for his fingers and the treadmill for his feet
And the quarry-gang on Portland in the cold and in the heat,
And between his spells of labour in the time he has to spare
He can curse the God that made him for the colour of his hair.
[without commenting on rhythm and metre, I'd like to be able to name the
rhetorical game the poem depends on... suggestions?...best from Max]
Quoting Max Richards <[log in to unmask]>:
> Quoting Robin Hamilton <[log in to unmask]>:
>
> > My sense is that the New Formalists do their best to pretend Ransom
> > especially doesn't exist -- he would call into question the tight cosy
> > little world of metrical constriction that they persist in locating
> > somewhere in the less interesting work of W.H.Auden.
> >
> > (Hm -- I've been in trouble elsewhere for naively pointing out the
> occasions
> > where we find what might be called straight lifts from Auden in Dana
> Gioia.)
> >
> > The dipodic element in Ransom (more marked in "Captain Carpenter" than in
> > "Piazza Piece") doesn't fit with the remit they lay down. But don't start
> > me ...
>
> Is Dipodic a no-no-? How can I avoid it?
>
> Max R
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> This email was sent from Netspace Webmail: http://www.netspace.net.au
>
------------------------------------------------------------
This email was sent from Netspace Webmail: http://www.netspace.net.au
|