I realize you may think the suggestion of the Secret Five Act Structure is ridiculous, and that's okay. However, that's not the question. Even if you disagree with the premise, do you believe Sonnet 43 provides evidence for those that do?
(NOTE: The Secret Five Act Structure is the idea that 154 sonnets break into 11 sections of 14 [11x14=154], where each sonnet functions as a line within a larger sectional sonnet. The first three sections form Act 1. Sonnet 43 (14x3+1) is the first poem of Section 4 and Act 1. Hence, it has the responsibility of creating a new narrative arc.)
If you need a refresher, here's Sonnet 43 (or 4.1):
When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see, For all the day they view things unrespected; But when I sleep, in dreams they look on thee And, darkly bright, are bright in dark directed.
Then thou whose shadow shadows doth make bright, How would thy shadow’s form form happy show To the clear day with thy much clearer light When to unseeing eyes thy shade shines so?
How would, I say, mine eyes be blessèd made By looking on thee in the living day, When in dead night thy fair imperfect shade Through heavy sleep on sightless eyes doth stay?
All days are nights to see till I see thee, And nights bright days when dreams do show thee me.
​
Are these interpretations feasible?

1. Day is a reference to Shakespeare's living life, night is a reference to after his death, and sleep is a reference to the secret being undiscovered or in hibernation.
2. "Wink" is a reference to an inside joke.
3. "Unrespected" is a reference to the idea that no one in Shakespeare's time or afterwards fully respected the full quality of The Sonnets.
4. "Darkly bright" references Shakespeare's cunning or secret genius to do this.
5. "Shadows shadow" can be interpreted many ways, most of them support the idea that something hidden that the reader would want to see.
6. "Form form" is reference to structure and form, indicating that understanding 14x11 (knowing that this is first sonnet of Section 4, for example) is key to decoding the secret.
7. "Happy show" is a reference to the idea that his isn't just numerology. Readers will like what they see.
8. "Unseeing eyes" and "sightless eyes" is a reference to people who read The Sonnets without know the structure.
9. The third quatrain is Shakespeare asking the question: How can I say that what I've made is so amazing when its true value will not be understood after I'm gone?
10. The couplet could be interpreted as: Life is death until my secret is seen, and death is life if the future reveals what I've done.

Sonnet 43 begins a 14 sonnet narrative arc about secrets and endless with Sonnet 56, which is very much an apology. Many sonnets in this section are as deep as Sonnet 43. Using the principles of literary criticism, please decide whether or not the ideas listed above are supported by textual evidence from the text.
All feedback is valued.
View Poll

https://youtu.be/I1CP5Lz2iHE?si=JSlsYrOG0gdzAO-F
I’ve been trying to write something unique today, but alas not much is coming to mind. There is so much I want to do. I love this little subreddit and everyone here. I hope this little subreddit becomes much more than just me.
I am almost laughing as I will post more “cheesy” stuff (I am smiling) - hey if you haven’t read the first issue of our “Potato Gazette” I suggest you do. It’s chucked full of a recap of last weeks activity’s here. I encourage you all to get involved it’s fun. Thank each and everyone who’s contributed either by post or comment or votes it all makes a difference, honest.
This morning I was going through some old notes and found a mention of an early 20th-century sonnet The Lass of Roch Royal. I’ve run across many versions. For me, Wikipedia has the best description. Their short synopsis is;
“A woman comes to Gregory's castle, pleading to be let in; she is either pregnant or with a newborn son. His mother turns her away; sometimes she tells her that he went to sea, and she goes to follow him and dies in shipwreck. Gregory wakes and says he dreamed of her. He chases her, finds her body, and dies.”
The Roud Folk Song Index lists 12 versions collected from traditional singers from Scotland, 4 from Ireland, 1 from Canada and a massive 82 from the US, with 30 from Virginia. However, many of these are based on the "Who's gonna shoe your pretty little foot, who's gonna glove your hand" motif. For example, the version listed for Charlie Poole, entitled "When I'm Far Away" from North Carolina goes as follows:
Who's gonna smoke the old clay pipe? When I am far away
followed by
Who's gonna be your little man?
Who's gonna glove your little hand?
Who's gonna shoe your little foot?
Who's gonna kiss your little lips? There are longer versions, notably Jean Ritchie's "Fair Annie of Lochroyan", which fairly accurately tells the story, ending with a quatrain:
Then he took out a little dart That hung down by his side And thrust it through and through his heart And then fell down and died.
Every time I come across this and read any of the versions I cry. To me, they are full of emotions.
The Northamptonshire poet John Clare wrote a poem "The Maid of Ocram, or, Lord Gregory" presumably based on an Irish version of the ballad. Clare was influenced by Gypsy travelers and may have heard folk songs and ballads from them.
"The Lass of Aughrim", an Irish version of "The Lass of Roch Royal", figures prominently in the story "The Dead" by James Joyce, as well as being performed in John Huston's 1987 film adaption. It is also sung by Susan Lynch and Ewan McGregor in the film Nora (2000) where they play Nora Barnacle and her husband Joyce respectively.
Thank you for indulging me a bit today. I know this is quite a radical swing from what I usually write about. My mind is working overtime and I feel a need to write about this. Nothing in particular, just a tug I can’t quite put any reasonable thought to. I’ve found I am much better off following my “tugs” more than my desires and wishes.
Love Kisha

1) I'm a real Trappist, Dynamite Baptist, Founded by Apostles, on Hooch bottles, homemade boulevard, I takeover, like a State by state rover, attempting my cards, shanghai, how bangs fly, another drunk tale, as I sit in this cell, piratical ale, how I hate hell, development, in fragments, so its fuq the government, and the congress covenants, my forte, is war play, where the skills, u let hypocrites chill, and practice ecocide, there's no equal side, for all the times, they assisted feticide, polluting a stride, turn ur ass around, if u not down, leave, for I'm complete, to deplete, greed, trump abstracts, come from foolish acts, ai, recognize my city, and my esoteric high, is ritzy, me and Capricorn, did porn, cause I'm the main stain, everybody just consonants, in these continents, I be putting tech signatures in brains, transistor, sisters, helping haptic wizards, wit a holographic pituitary, be the quizzer, the fuq over was missionary, for obliteration, and obstruction, ecclesiastic destruction, and commiseration, tryna verse similar, but the claymore string, is vehicular, I purge fling, this dramatis, is a mach fist, Peace here, but war steers, as if gnomes, is in my GNOME, cause I'm a a limited edition, move over, is the premonition, like a habile soldier, delivering acolytes, for probationary insight, no court, for one in ports, of Anubis, poisoned by cupid, betrayed by confederates, in apartments, to take my Amourette, and her compartments, now she has to have kid, as they laugh at what they did, to prevent us, from going to Pluto, and knowing Judo, in this majestic dust, I ran contra, on beneficiaries, politicizing mantras, talking airy, this alcohol scripture, not a diplomat, but a dipsomaniac, cause transmogrification whispers, support the ratiocinative, that cerebrates, wit mafiocracy traits, that's as is, like venom that's formic, don't forget what's important, I smash any, to plenty, keep axing questions, for referendum blessings,
​
​
2) UGLY WATCH All I knew was the basement, wit my sovereign temperature, recognizing replacements, in lecturers, my stomach fasted, like an aboriginal automatic, in magical bridges, unabridged, like fuq riches, right now is the fidget, I been gone, like a brilliant spawn, hell broth politics, took fiancées, to volley trix, and JM.1 entrées, I pledge alliance, to Sumerian science, I digested pussy juice, in ardor, while in bulletproof armor, as I sluice, love me not, I'm seismic behavior, wit belladonna capers, and strychnine plots, pimping a capitalist, to broke, my clairvoyance is woke, repealing a kiss, who am I, just a stimuli, as draconians, try to kill the sun, and amazonians, with death ray guns, we stay in courts, financing their sports, why vote for critics, crucifying my visits, degradation, and defamation, listening to edification, to keep us incommunicado, to dedication, from guerrilla mottoes, fly specs, in our mouthpiece, to connect, to our electromagnetic Wikileaks, so I come, in forma pauperism, wisdom, my love, is gravitational, motivational, dissing illuminati drugs, I'm laureate, of my sect, I write this, from the can, for I miss, Canibus fans, not a misandrist, who wants to be topless, just stop working, like an optimist, flirting, like an obelisk, I'm seen, as mean, cause I plunder police, and staff, that need to rest in Peace, wit riffraff, they feed trichinosis, and halitosis, to usurp the weak, wit the wrong meat, all week, seasoned neat, I zigzag, away from, those that wag, for the dumb, don't get dogged, in the fog, they chop logic, so they can profit, off peaceful indictments, as if we are auctioned, for biometric excitement, stalking, love me, or knot, even the ugly, watch
​
3) Cee-I'm fine, as I course lines, in science acid, psi, on massive, rye, my militant helmet, generates, to embellish, my mind state, I'm boxed in, like quantum jinns, I ghost through, technology, like alienated prophecy, wit my boo, I eat and soar, and smoke like an herbivore, my Christ conscious, levitates frequencies, away from the phosphorus, I glow in piquancy, psychic electronics, disturb my phonics, I've been abducted, by projects, synchronizin nutty chit, in my mindset, wit particle divisions, wiretapping my organ, wit Tesla shaman portions, of hormone systems, square waves fountain, transformation, when coordinates practice masturbation, when oscillation be bouncin, the Morongo portal, infusin dimensional, of other neurological immortals, out of TV mechanicals, I stop devolution, wit my antenna, of an incognito brain oozin, of ridged agendas, Comcast observes us, as we contemplate and sex, the fantasies for lust, is exercised by a hex, the ritual, is habitual, to keep us entranced, hidden in psychological premises, disappearing in a glance, for menaces, this is why I shatter craniums, like I do to a biocrystalline computer, for tracing my Houdini maneuvers, u can't resonate wit my palladium, the tachyon, in my Deltron, where I create ions, and spell like a necromantic Don, she feel the hertz, when we breakup, the electrical mind control worked, as we lazed nut, from Mk ultra, to Mk Delta, ad astra, to helter skelta, her panties, under my pillow, hopin her a resilient family, with no dildo, I'm a mega elfin, in hoodoo scholastics, that hornswoggled within, by riparian magic, now I'm a chaff, wit a staff, everyday a jihad, with her toothsome, glad, that I move glum, they pray to the lard, with the MasterCard, but bless the molly shards, in facilities, wit felicity, for the patriotic and bizarre star, menticide, can never preside, they too frangible, and vaginal, this eclat, deep strapped, around bugs, by a Bogart, wit incubus smarts, prostratin u to other thugs
​
4) SurviveTheRive- Bolting to calls, from crib to crib, like Satan Claus, and broadband ad libs, burning a corpse, after blunt warps, then return to the café, boomeranging nightmares, what a doomsday, I flair, was it ever equable, went from mild, to wild, cause of malfeasance easing through, the heartsease, under forever parole, for a capitalist role, wit a whip and caprice, care, isn't excessive, its just a pansexual sentence, efforts is rare, troglodytes, renounce literature, knowing I'm an empyrean fixture, censored by heights, wagging the chin, for my chic, still I lead the grim, that's coldly lit, I sold the garrote, to a ecce homo, I get ecumenical solo, away from girdling dotes, I be in cosmos, only for War, like its World War Four, without lotto, my star chamber, is a fey laser, everyday, a clean slate, when will u awake, ablution the cliché, don't close ur mind, clothe ur mind, pictorials grind, observing us unwind, I sold Rosetta stones, cause we all decipher, in different roams, and unique writers, the demonic steganographer, works for dragoon philosophers, coercing us, in cages, and pay for their "serendipity", in cryogenic pages, I'm Brumal electricity, I irrupt, to erupt, like a byzantine, comprehensible to lien, when correctional officers, be popinjay, yet confide in the gay, to get this slaughterer, catch this psycho mach, under constant watch, but this bellicose, coast, immured, wit the impure, the harass us, in lifetime increments, its so fuqn corrupt, they castrate the intimate, they help informants plunder, a grievance revenge, the counterfeit wonder, of knavery dens, my Bedlamite rose, before holidays come and go, I spend it wit eve, and Lilith first, cause on my sleeve, is just another curse, but I'm a remedy, voodoo science, in superficial alliance, wit this bootleg Hennessey, new cynicism, systems, to isolate, our fate, till global slavery, is savory, in hidden policies, and til Trump rip up the constitution, for prostitution, pimping melancholy
​
5) Chitty Chitty, and Holy shebang, in ditties, wherever i hang, my homemade, anarchistic missile, is fine grade, like my flying middle, finger, knapping,like a harbinger-rapping, cause the duty, is loony, all the time, on the sundial, I dump grime, on rat files, this tarantula dance, is perils before swine, tinderbox lines, wit a Gothic lance, my skin, akin to cinnamon, so I assign feet, to twilight, daze an insight, and entice heat, I burn bones, and narcotized policed kids, so forever quietude can live, humbug the clone, tattlers, can't defame me, I splatter, the vincible flea, I practice paramnesia fast, put my coc in the hoop, I'm a catatonic loop, in a mr terminus task, I cripple a vampire, my virile reflex, the perfidious sex, is entropic esquires, they traduce, to seduce, my fireworks, explode cars, MIA is hurt, and like Man in Mars, beside frozen water, the Martyr Doc, tryna honor, WAP, wit Goddess regnancy, without Judas pregnancy, I drink, and plash officership, so I link, to drown or clown in anonymous, their dwarves, tinctorial, this ward, too territorial, HCIC, poison ivy, rest in commissary, top of the food chain, spiking prairie, wit the baby insane, mafioso lane, in reign, my knee, is sacramental, an autonomous G, elemental, I'm not a human being, I'm just being human, what I'm seeing, is mutants, we just prison hostage, wit knowledge, traded by banks, and religious projects, so as I made shanks, for Cheap digest, Prophecy must breathe, and breed the lead, however, in modified weathers, Ever gram, is a quadrillion dollar, wanted by spam, and impostors, to steal, Family lore, and peal, contradictory uproar, I celebrate almost everyday, like an enemy died, prey, of my dye, I'm classified, reclassified, never declassified, til the last ride, My panoramic views, is versatile chew, geometric parables, marriageable, excellent perfection, Phoenix lessons,they want me not, to counteract, to stay intact, in my trots, potassium nitrate, thanking statute dates
​
6) Fireside Chat Warning- Prophetic Cyborg, 95 percent damaged, its a morgue, where I salvage, burning cities, that got us in micro grids, the agenda ritzy, assassinations live, my Culture, active as Druglords, mining for soldiers, in immortal umbilical cords, portals, by underground research facilities, police make us mortal, under congress humility, false flag operations, in copulation, individual control, put tracers in blood, so my energetic soul, remotes love, scarlar weapons, by scholar inception, disturbing glands, my coordinates, entrapped by seditious fans, to keep me unfortunate, whatever she want me to dew, she pays, the mafia haze, is in my hue, genii science, wit linguistic of defiance, information warfare, wiretap a dream, wit cybernetic wares, in sovereign queens, no social number, I survive like a war hustler, tragedy lover, the amendment, prepares for martial regiments, starving undercovers, nonprofit Peace, operate to re lease, servitude, in quietude, and rules, by a ruse, confuse, a mule, in uniforms, the perpetration is borne, expunge, my lungs, I detoxed, to start this box, no Queensbury, for earth, is the jury, in this berth dearth, they chip us, to motes, smart dust, as we regenerate hope, they want sex offenders, for president, for Tesla detriment, neglecting us to remember, waiting for infinite ammunition, lethal vaccination, dissing our intuition, and depopulation activations, Morgellon diseases, autoimmune hepatitis, don't want us righteous, or being a genius, pixilated indictments, I'm polymath enlightenment, noble venom, this an emergency enchantment, eschatology is present, and micromanaged, Im an entrapped specie, cryptically surveiled, in hell, living uneasy, ever since the thralldom, became a microcosm, it was miniature pandemics, and errors, so I gave terror, to the pathetic, so Bea, forgive this last kiss, sempiternal everyday, as evidence exists, my paradigm, is calculus, shooting volcanoes in my brine, for the lachrymose after us
​
7) G Will--My Goodwill, is instilled, as I distill, and fulfill, without an apologue, or apple dialogue, no tarradiddles, in the passaged middles, or in my village physics, aka hood districts, tho my appearance, is brokenhearted, the artificial cartridge, still want my kin on clearance, I get her Gucci, she fantasized for, so she, hold my weapons of world war more, her thing, be on my palmistry, valedictorian zing, arable honesty, whenever I'm far, we connect like stars, honeymoon, moonshine, we compatible to kind, so we boon, we a phat comity, like its always February 29th, our camaraderie, drunk off pints, no senate, can sensate, this heart rate, she my haptic pendant, hew in love, my hue in gloves, missed felonies, I ate her to melodies, play sic, from work, to lemme insert the kic, and flirt, the sulfurous watch, our proverbial spots, she tongued me, til I held onto tropes, sprung G, tryna cope, googol finds, couldn't help me see this, she drip juicy wine, and tilt positions switch, bed opera, pukka class, mantra, of yoga splash, besides that, I help fix, I add on to flashforward a mix, when Peace is entrapped, I'm a political prisonaire, wit ambrosia flair, growing on a volcano, where I can't fool around, I'm forced to yayo, and expound, she know I got to be fatidical, my tribe, kindergarten radicals, proscribed, cause we never blaming, they ban legal forms, from children of the corn, such preventive gaining, manumitting is secretly restricted, like we must be explicit, for cryonic cash, I'm a maenadic, yet monadic, in a quantum dash, they too untruthful, yet her and I, is fruitful, third eye to eye, they only plan, scams, during manque times, we get no unabridged signs, swastika, at the sepulchral ground, to cross in wicca, and tunnel lounge, stealing the aquifer, blowing fuses, say we useless, yet further their moniker, make us look unsuccessful, throughout all this, she Cee me as flawless, wit scars, and tattoos, though I'm barred, like indigenous statues,
​
8) Evangelical Cannibal--Super Amped, I put unachievable tramps, in an unscheduled death, I been an alcoholic, since Avenues created the West, amongst the diabolic, hormones, on my dicc, for loans, to terminate a hicc, shiyt, I live this RICO, to the fullest, classified by Freemason acoustics, in anxious amino, rate me x, to the infinite power, my quotient a hex, to cowards, I constantly stomp on faces, to adapt like a pacifist, cause I'm laced wit, Warlord Activists, I break a nerve, to control my temper, I'm a Grinch in December, as I sermon words, my frequency, hurt emotions, wit my conscious potions, of piquancy, so stay away from me, like a syllable, I'm a dope G, so anybody is killable, from the DA, to CO, tryna free play, in this C Lo, in my genes, is banshees, so I will destroy and cream, for pantry, y'all not electric, nor magnetic, y'all write pathetic, I get ur hope netted, I go around, town by town, testing clowns, and fluently drown, it stimulates my goals, and colds, inducting one, to the death of fame, its not a game, my mentality is of a triple Sun, I mastered geometry, to escape a radius, and eat like an evangelist, properly, every thousand grams, I went through, I removed ham, from the menu and venue, my new millennium, stay in hellion mode, cases of bellum, observe a sole, anyways, I came to purge, and urge, rays, transition my intelligent volts, to animals, that vote, for the anatomy of a cannibal, my depth is Loc, my square, is drink chichi, that I don't share, not even wit Ouija, scat, my height extreme, as a brat, looking to lien, not even a lawyer, can come toward, without an entourage, I am a Man, and an op God, returning land, my ambidextrous wings, automatically, down architect rings, living static free, so if u supported devil kin, I will somehow separate u, from ur political VIN, and slaughter through, as if suicide, looks like the apartheid, I sip ghetto gyn, to heal and spin, like a snowy hurricane, inflate kilos, by the border lane, as I entrance the multi lethal, I will never surrender, nor turn myself inn, this acculturation weather, there's plenty of contracts to pin, I just learned how to make, zyklon B, for the fake, to depart from me, I cripple abilities, and capabilities, til they extradite my brain, I discharge, too insane, while locating a sarge, I'm absolutely, a methodical killer, luminosity distiller, mutely, zero, ur heroes, I always find motives, to plash variants, repopulate poses, in clairvoyance, I move mites, in motes, to entice, a stroke, since Deuteronomy, u broke sanitation, so I break ur philosophy, into castration, time accommodated, wit cash, to utilize u like ass, as u prostrated, I had it going on, since the Baghdad battery, Darkrooms spawn, responding to so called mastery, ever since the achromatic colored man, smothered plans, I been wit no filter, even when i tilt her, the wrongful responder, won't prosper, I get u jumped, by crunk, shatter, ur character, by the incinerator, as I drive Crazy, to waiters, with a supreme m.80, hoe this depth, is galactic, Hollywood in debt, til the casket, if researchable evidence, is in ur home, u will be dethroned, like presidents, I will deactivate patterns, when I emotionalize my churns, u can't avoid, this is activity, not idle sensitivity, I'm international like steroids, and androids, and prepared bad boys, i KO a gland, wit my invisible hand, I drink wherever, I'm an individual cortex, out of a vortex, of a research center, so I'm underground, like ogres, that's hard to be found, like gnomes and voters, I never let the law take advantage, that's why I'm in jail now, I cant be micromanaged, like a cow, I disturb the aerial, and Ariel, I'm drafty, and daffy, practice on hitting dastards, from my office, I'm a tome captured, by agent Taurus, frenemies, is illiterate, like religious tendencies, tryna be considerate, I'm a morbid, orbit, my alcohol palace, is area 51, so wit a plastic chalice, I challenge anyone
​
9) Euthanizer--- I pull a quatrain, on a ur momma, the MILF brain, while in a sauna, I buy ur parents, wit Gangsta patents, cause I don't wanna see u, don't get it twisted, I'm higher than evils, plus I hire petals, to hold metals, plus u talk like a eunuch, and a hermaphrodite, this is not music, this is dangerous acolytes, I be unpleasant dimensions, I bring to people, like a vaccinated needle, by an alienist perfection, u audition, for jobs, cause ur cognition, can be robbed, almost everyone here, is nothing, just humming, for a vulnerable overseer, y'all ran by, alphabet boyfriends, toy trends, and egotistic spies, so its a new gun, every time I altered, I'm a unselfish Sun, that will disease a father, I dust off, a person a loft, when arson is cheap, pardon my treat, I can't tolerate, those who don't positively pollinate, idiotic, I'm a vehicular homicidal psychotic, I bash a figure, into metaphors, triple standards, dominate, so contradictions be the candidate, for another cancer, I forced ur whore, to smoke a wholly hoard, before she leaves, this tribal sign language, of eves, when we banish, u got me fuqd up, I pay kids, to get ur eyes in a gut, so I can laugh during my bids, police cum, and we don't recognize Amani, if u send them Nazis, to take take my yum, its a forward lateral, for my inner Amytal, I won't depend, on separation depression, ID my bend, then I move at my discretion, wit molly, in her anal, the love to trolley, and strangle wit cable, I'm for real, so fuq all ur criticism, I get in ur regional wheel, wit a conceited Wisdom, follow ur email, to hail, if u think this a tale, then find me at ur tail, I echo, from my location, like a pretzel vocation, in this metro, SCI Huntingdon, where deterioration is offered, but we reverse hunting cum, and we sombre, never settling for a stalemate, time is distorted, wit lifers whose discorded, by dates, so my sovereign muscle, is jerked by judges, that hustle grudges, for sexual inabilities, is hostilities,
sample me, I make an example out of u, wit real calamity, for foreign arousal, this prototype, was arrested, cause I mass produced metrics, in a gigolo night, I tamper wit situations, alike litigations, I chain an informant, to a car, for torment, can be heard afar, my astrodynamic telepathy, must tranquillize, enemy by enemy, tryna rise, its involuntary, to protect fairly, the atmosphere, already weird, but I won't waste here, like who shall I fear, either ur scared, of death or jail, cause ur impaired, to be the best Zale, this schoolyard, not college, this is an autogenic card, autonomic, more autonomous, than a taxi, I'm more complex tragedy, aversions is anonymous, stay in the closet, let them euthanize the axis, yet allow my praxis, to Prophet ---- Euthanizer
​
​
​
​
10) Endangered Edition-- Don't Disrupt This Movie, Nor Spill The Hooch, This Innocence At Duty, And For More Hooch, Y'all Not Really Talking, Cause At Home U Get Vetoed, As I Be E Stalking, Like A Stronghold, My Ecosystem, Need A Triage, Yet I Be Tripping, On Hodgepodge, I Push To Embargo, Governments, Wit Harlots Of Carlo, On Their Criminology Covenants, U Never Had A Hero, Like U Never Seen A Kilo, Every Gamble, Is A187 Bettor, I'm A Solstice Handle, To Daze Better, I Follow U, From A Jewelry Store, Not In Solitude, In This Uproar, I Keep Binoculars On Mac Machines, For War, I Trap A Trampoline, As I Tour, Meaningfully Babbling, From Castle To Castle, Grappling, For A Satchel, Extending My Clip, To A Drum, Fuq Where I'm From, This Germ Is Hip, For Forward Conditions, I Maintain Ammunitions, I Follow Through, Ballistic, My Crew, Holistic, She On The Bandwagon, I'm Still Amish, Is What I Be Bragging, Without A Promise, Agriculture, To Pharmaceutical, Got My Culture, Diagrammatical, Descriptions, Of Infliction, Derive, From Survival Tactics, Deprived, By An Uncreative Vatic, Now I Put Head In Baskets, And Close A Casket, I Fore Ever, Been Slumping, Wit Kevlar Treasure, For Dumping, I Feed Ur Genetics, To Loansharks, As My Hearts, Oscillate Wit The Most Respected, I Came Twice, To Splice, Like A Messiah, I Rehearse Poetry, For Ridaz, And Keep The Potency, So Modify, The E Pill, Speed Chill, My Decibel Stay Sly, I Test My Main Squeeze, Once A Month, I'm Just A Different Knead, Plus My Rhythm Be Drunk, Transvestites, Want U To Panic, To Take What U Like, And Lace Ur Drink Wit Magic, They Would Suq A Bestiality, For Big Salary, But This Gravitational Wave, Keep Them Far, Times I Waive, Cause I'm A Traditional Star, I'm Too Versatile, 107+ Gang Signs I Pile, My Fusion Blends, Wit An Intelligent One Ocular, My Rivalry Is Popular, So I'm A Bio Negative Spend, U Work For The Capitalist, Making Money Off Chit, And False Identities, Especially Psychosexuality, manipulating chemistries, avoiding realities, like informants, so bless the blind alleyways, no warrants, can prey, the bloc laws, to cloc laws, Cee I'm cerulean darkness, and heartless, but she still boomerang, to bang, knowing my conduct, is sic cynic, and a pimp clinic, that will never duq, though evidence, is hidden, by president, bidden, like money for warring christians, rather than collegians and tuitions, is imperialism, and wishy washy premonition, why is obama hidden, from area 17, probably inn hells kitchen, and wit venom streams, I will never leave, a home broken, my paradigm pristine, and awoken, this differing environment, is grinding for tyrants, synthetic as satanic science, never in alignments, this why I pop a bulb, of copper bullies, and I sculpt, truly, I burn cities, not connects, so choke on my ditties, like a bystander effect, tidal waves, crossing borders, just to be slaves, or a court order, religious informants, made it faster, expedited by Copenhagen bastards, and waterboarding torment
​
11) Truce Le--- I spit double x pepper, I strike forever, merman fluid voice, wit a warlord choice, I stunt, I'm a divine Don, an elite drunk, spilling wonton, every nybble, predatorial, orca pistol, is territorial, I'm aconite, and wolfsbane, the bz type, on ur shady night, I intercept, like a galactic, I starve ur sect, and freeze magic, I burn, cameras on my stamina, as I churn, like mineral regulations and rules, in deep water, I drown a muse, and an imposture, we did this 12 million years ago, u mimes, ain't allowed in my archipelago, I'm infrasonic lines, intertwined, wit wines, how many gods u want, I travel, in a Roddenberry blunt, so fuq a gavel, I divide, like the caucus mountains, this bridge is tied, to a 20 gauge lounge inn, this bile, wild, an IED style, I'm a super size mile, no beauty Queen impostor, my swag, come without a mustache, exocannibal frag, when I hash, the tequila doctor, gives falling ovations, to a proctor, in many locations, evil, was uppity, til they met this lethal, flamethrower of superconductivity, I beat u, til ur brown, treat dew, to the underground crown, OG, original grenade, at monarch speed, on a laze, I teleport a hologram, to an exoskeleton suit, to disable and bam, as I hoot, I break a capitalist utopia, constantly, and levitate a mafia, wit climate prodigy, my genealogy, the soundex, in institutional prophecy, and courthouses, I break ur concepts, wit ignorant geometry, and Peace camaraderie, and feed it to pets, I'm the best version, of the "worst" wrist, I write excursions, wit my indie fist, banana hooch, endangered fermentation, wit ruthless smooch, in the equation, u get the Jakeleg, for an emergency beg, Mr toe tag head, on ops I misled, laxative chichi, dope Houdini, I'm siracha, oblongata, benzo pasta, cause heart, is an icy casa, I electrocute art, every jug, I went to, I was laced hugs, kluxers hate my venue, ex nuns, fuq wit this gun, blowing kiss, wit fixed stares, I'm a chunk of bliss, as I blitz, til u call 4 me

Question:
Evaluate the effectiveness of the methods used by the writers of your two studied texts to explore how an individual’s identity is shaped, or revealed, by their interactions with other people.
​
Answer:
​
The ways in which identity is both constructed and revealed bear some similarities across both The Great Gatsby and The Whitsun Weddings. One of the most obvious examples is the portrayal of Tom and Daisy’s marriage, where Tom’s identity is revealed through his interaction with Gatsby when he says: ‘ “Once in a while I go off on a spree and make a fool of myself, but I always come back, and in my heart I love her all the time” ’ This line perfectly reveals Tom’s identity as someone who may love his wife but doesn’t value her to the point of making a concerted effort to change. This renders the relationship meaningless as there is no action behind these thoughts, and action is what matters most in terms of its effects. The portrayal of Tom’s identity within the context of the relationship could be a result of many different factors, ranging from Fitzgerald’s hatred of the values of the upper class at the time as well as his possibly repressed homosexuality, which could lead to a resentment of relationships altogether. This idea becomes more plausible when you see that Zelda, like Daisy, only married Fitzgerald after he’d published (and done quite well off of) his first novel after having taken a break from the relationship prior to this. Furthermore, literary commentator Simon Plath observes the possibly homosexual nature between Fitzgerald and Hemmingway: Hemingway often referred to Fitzgerald as ‘sweetie’ in their letters. Thus, the portrayal of Tom’s identity within the context of his and Daisy’s relationship could mirror both the meaningless relationship that Fitzgerald had with Zelda and Fitzgerald’s possible homosexuality.
This theme of identity within relationships is also prevalent throughout The Whitsun Weddings most obviously in ‘Self’s The Man’, Arnold’s selfish aspect of his identity is revealed through the poet speaker’s interpretation of Arnold’s relationship as a transaction: with Arnold getting to ‘marr[y] a woman to stop her getting away’ whilst she obtains ‘the money he gets for wasting his life on work’ as ‘her perk’. First of all, the use of the proper noun ‘woman’ to present his wife shows an impersonality and meaninglessness behind the relationship, as if she could be any ‘woman’ and it would be the same. The poet speaker suggests here that Arnold is actually selfish for wanting this life, suggesting that ‘He was out for his own ends’, showing his selfish identity through the interactions with his wife, coming to the conclusion that, whilst ‘[Arnold] and I are the same, only I’m a better hand’ with the phrase ‘better hand’ here reflecting a game of cards, suggesting that life is more a game to be won rather than an experience to enjoy. This view of life as a game is reflected in the structure of the poem, with the eight quatrains in combination with the constant AABB rhyme scheme - as seen with rhyming couplets such as ‘deny’ and ‘I’ or ‘mother’ and ‘summer’ - suggests a uniformity of experiences being one interpretation of the text. This creates a multi-layered nature surrounding the text as a happily married couple might view this as either inaccurate or take it as a warning and fear this happening to them, whilst those stuck in an ‘empty shell marriage’ might see the merit in Larkin’s point of view.
Both writers present this theme incredibly well, with Fitzgerald use of the setting of the hottest day of the year to reflect the rising tensions creates the perfect backdrop for the main confrontation between Gatsby and Tom, a reality that the novel had been teasing towards gripping the reader and using this as an opportunity to reveal the identity of Tom, Daisy and Gatsby, not through who they are, but through their actions and what that means for them. Larkin utilises different techniques to mirror his creative medium of choice, with the structure reflecting the supposed uniformity that Larkin views the world through, as well as the rhyming couplets making it read like a children’s story, sharply juxtaposing the jovial beat of the poem with the mature topic discussed. Both writers here use the reveal of an individual’s identity in order to portray larger themes, and this is present throughout the two pieces of work.
Fitzgerald also uses this technique of a character’s identity representing an overall theme with the narrator of the novel: Nick. Nick is presented as someone who has supposedly learnt to ‘reserve all judgements’, his sarcastic tone throughout the novella suggests that this is not the case, as his first presentation of Daisy, choosing to present her as someone who acts ‘as if she said something very witty’. This cements Daisy’s ditziness in the reader’s mind and cleverly stereotypes Daisy for the remainder of the novel. Regardless of the truth behind this perception of Daisy, Nick did not, in fact, ‘reserve all judgements’ whilst describing Daisy, revealing to more observant readers that Nick’s identity is not based - or at least not entirely - on his father’s mantra of remaining initially uncritical. This could represent Fitzgerald’s hatred of upper-class values so much so that even the least hedonistic character within the novella has a tendency to twist the truth. Larkin, however, presents a similar topic (the application of one’s parental morals onto oneself) whilst drawing the reader to a more deterministic view on life. This is present in reference back which, on a surface level, may only present a child’s interaction with his parent, on closer inspection with Larkin’s relationship with his parents in mind, it could come to mean a lot more. First of all, the adjective ‘unsatisfactory’ is repeatedly used throughout the poem, which could be a comment on both his childhood and his relationship with his parents. This relationship was strained somewhat by his father being a national-socialist (NSDAP) sympathiser (some of his more classist and misogynist views rubbing off on Larkin) in combination with his hospitalised mother needing constant aid could have caused some resentment within Larkin towards his parents.
This depiction of his family life is further portrayed in the poem ‘Afternoons’ which briefly describes how the identities of different members within the family are revealed through interactions. In the first stanza, the identities of the mothers are presented through interactions with each other and their children: ‘Young mothers assemble at swing and sandpit’. The verb ‘assemble’ contains connotations of a government body and presents the occasion as far more formal than fun. as if it is more their duty rather than pleasure to take their children to the park. This metaphor is extended with the alliteration ‘at swing and sandpit’ further enforcing this formality, which suggests that family life has shaped their identities to be devoid of life and character, reflecting the ‘hollows of afternoons’ as they are now hollows of their former selves. The second stanza briefly touches on the fathers: ‘behind [the mothers], at intervals, Stand husbands in skilled trades’. The only real portrayal of the ‘husbands’ revealing their identity is when Larkin mentions their ‘skilled trades’ not only enforcing the traditional nuclear family that he had come to resent, but also the glossing over of both of these members, the mothers and the fathers - and therefore the lack of an identity - could symbolise, structurally, how Larkin views them as insignificant.

Welcome to Poetry Corner

Here is the form to vote for your favorites <3
Quick Reminder that the poetry corner post does appear in the sidebar between other features, as well as on the Wednesday Wildcard Wiki if you miss the initial post <3
Welcome to October! While it's basically been fall since August, we are really now in the full of it, and I am very, very excited. I think that poetry goes beyond, well, what a lot of people might think it needs to be. We talk about it telling stories, but did you know that poems can have genres, too? Did you know you can have horror poems? Fantasy? Sci-fi?
Well, I think we know what time it is and which of those I might be drooling over ;p
Let’s face it: poetry is a strange land for many of us. What makes a poem? Does it have to rhyme? Follow a structure and meter? Does it have to be based in emotion? All these are great questions. Poetry comes in all forms and styles, rhyming and non-rhyming, metered and freeform. Some poems even tell a fictional story, like prose does! Some poems don't use any line breaks at all, and Prose-Poems can be tricky yet effective. I'll give you a nudge here to look into them and maybe try them out. Who knows, maybe a constraint is coming our way.
Each month, I provide you with a simple theme and an additional constraint to inspire you. You have 60 - 350 words to write a poem based on that theme. Poetry is often shorter than prose, so word choice is important. Less words mean each word does more. Be sure to read the entire post before submitting!  

This Month’s Challenge

Theme: Bewitching IP MP
Bonus Constraints:

• Include a rice krispy treat.
  
• Write in the form of a Ballad. (If you choose to go this route, your poem can go up to 450 words. This applies to this month only!)
  

Bewitching – definition: enchanting or delightful. This time of year, above all other seasons, people think of witches and their spells. We think of bouncing pumpkins down a cobblestone street and black cats flying in the sky on brooms. These are beautiful, glorious images, but I think we could move a little bit further.
What happens when someone bewitches us with their charms and looks? What do you do when the moon is simply too bewitching to turn away from? Who do you turn to when the ocean bewitches your thoughts and pulls you towards it without end? Use the theme literally or as just a bouncing-off point, but I want you to stretch those muscles before you dive in. Of course, I also love witches. 😛
But whats a ballad?: Let me tell you!
Ballads usually take a narrative form to tell us stories. They are often arranged in quatrains, but the form is loose enough that writers can easily modify it.
Typically arranged in groups of 4 lines
Rhyme scheme: ABAB or ABCB
Examples:
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE
Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe
A Red, Red Rose BY ROBERT BURNS
These are just a few ideas to get you started. Remember, you can interpret the theme any way you like as long as the connection is clear and you follow all sub and post rules. Don’t forget to leave feedback on at least one other poem by the deadline (it is a requirement)!

Schedule

• Submission deadline: Wednesday, October 25th at 11:59pm EST
• Feedback & Nomination deadline: Tuesday, November 14th at 11:59pm EST
• Campfire: Sunday October 29th, 2:00 PM

Check out previous Poetry Corners here!

How To Participate

• Submit a 60 - 350 word poem inspired by the theme as a top-level comment below. You have until next Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. EST. Please note that for this particular feature, poems must be at least 60 words. Low-effort poems will be removed. No pre-written content.
• Use wordcounter.net to check your word count. The title is not counted in your final word count. Poems under 60 words or over 350 will be disqualified.
• Leave actionable feedback on at least one other poem Each critique is worth up to 10 points, up to 50 points. (please note that this is a slight change to the previous scoring system)
• **Nominate your favorite poems from the thread using this form (it will open after the submission deadline). You get points just for voting!
• Please be respectful and civil in all feedback and discussion. We welcome writers of all skill levels and experience here, as we’re all here to improve and sharpen our skills. Uncivil or discouraging comments will not be tolerated and may result in further mod actions.
• Be creative and have fun! If you have any questions, feel free to ask them on the stickied comment on this thread or via modmail. Top-level comments are reserved for poem submissions.

Point Breakdown

We have a new point system!

TASK	POINTS	ADDITIONAL NOTES
Use of the Weekly Theme	up to 50 pts	Theme should be present, but the interpretation is up to you!
Use of Bonus Constraint	10 pts	(unless otherwise noted)
Actionable Feedback	up to 10 pts each	1 crit required; you’re welcome to provide more crit, but pts are capped at 50
Nominations your poem receives	20 pts each	No cap
Mod Choice	20 - 50 pts	First- 50 pts, Second- 40 pts, Third- 30 pts, plus regular noms
Voting for others	10 pts	Don’t forget to vote by the deadline!

 
Note: *Actionable feedback should be constructive, something that the author can use to improve. Feedback can also be positive, like what you enjoyed, how it made you feel, parts that flowed particularly well, images that stood out, etc.

Rankings for Astronomy

Winners:

• First place by u/Brknside
• Second place by u/AliciaWrites
• Third place by u/rudexvirus

Aly’s Highlight:
This is a space for a poem that I want to take a moment to highlight, chosen separately from the votes and points.
u/SaltedCaramelJedi
Title: Memories of Astrophysics
What I loved about it: I liked how the subject matter compared something vast and limitless to something small and simple, like love for your partner – I think it's a really great use of poetry and very thematic for the month's post as well. How far back could you go and see people comparing a lover to the stars? Or a cat's wisdom to the cosmos?
Astronomy and everything that relates to it makes us feel both big and small, important and invisible, and I think this little poem did a really good job of grazing that feeling.

Subreddit News

• Join our Discord to chat with other authors and prompters! We hold several weekly Campfires, monthly World-Building interviews, and several other fun events!
• We are currently looking for moderators! Apply to be a moderator at any time.
• Nominate your favorite WP authors for Spotlight and Hall of Fame!
• Experiment with fun tropes and genres on the new Fun Trope Friday!
• Serialize your story with Serial Sunday or test your micro-fic skills with Micro Monday on ShortStories! ***

Okay so beside the fact that how sad war is I’ve kept on looking to the book and would like to discuss this.
My comments are added with ** rest is copied from books as it is.
Page 172-173;
Les cing estrangesentrez dedans le temple Leur sang viendra la terre prophaner: Aux Tholousains serabien durexample, D'un qui viendra les lois exterminer.
The five foreigners having entered the temple; their blood will desecrate the land. The example made of the Toulousians will be very hard, made by the man who comes to wipe out their laws.
J:This refers to a Jewish temple that is built in Israel. Moslem fanatics will try to desecrate it because it will be built on one of their sacred sites. He says this will be taking place in the 1990s after an earthquake hits the Holy Land. In the process of the quake, the Temple of the Dome of the Rock, which is the Moslem mosque or temple, will be destroyed. As a result a newJewish temple will be built. And because it's being built on the site of their sacred mosque, Moslem fanatics disguised as Jews will desecrate the temple by committing ritual suicide within it. He says this will be a signal for the advancement of the Anti-Christ in the Arab world. This will be the war cry that The will lead up to the battle of Armageddon.

D: Is this "the man who comes to wipe out their laws"?
J: That also refers to the Israeli army battling the Anti-Christ's forces.
Page 110-111
D: Nostradamus once told us we would never know very much about the Anti-Christ's background because it would remain a mystery.
J: There is mystery in the sense that his parents were killed, and Imam, the priest, will also keep things mysterious. Imam is the personification of what you would call the Devil. He has a venomous hatred for the Israelis and wants to see Israel stomped and destroyed. He will stir up trouble and work to that aim. He's not a bad looking man, but his eyes hold you and draw into you until you feel like your soul is being sucked out His eyes are like black holes.
D: It's a wonder the young man wouldn't feel this.
J: The young man loves him because he has been nourished and loved by him. This evil being's true weakness is this young man. He's done everything possible to make his life comfortable and happy. So great love exists between them. When this evil being-it's not a man-finishes with the shell of his body, he will transfer his essence and his energy to him. This is when the young man will become the Anti-Christ. But this will happen in the 1990s.
D: Is this when Pluto will cause the change and he will start his rise to power?
J: Right. He will become more influential than he is now. The evil being is currently dealing with money matters, creating a base for the AntiChrist to rise on. He is getting money from Arabs ofall nationalities throughout the Islamic world to help support him in his efforts. He's also going to help foster some revolutionary changes in Syria, Iraq, and Iran. And he's going to do that soon enough.
D: When he gave us astrologicalsigns through Brenda, he said some of those signs did not pertain to his natalhoroscope but to the horoscope of his coming to power.
J:The channel got what she thought was his birthdate, but it was actually the death of his parents which was traumatic for him because he was very young at the time. Then he was cared for by his uncle; the evil being. The Anti-Christ doesn't know it, but his father and mother were murdered. It appeared that they died because of the war, but actually, the uncle had hired assassins because he wanted the boy for himself.
D: Was he plotting even then?
J: Yes, he plotted then to take the parents, and the young man doesn't know this. Nostradamus says that's the mystery surrounding his beginnings. The evil being was born in the 1930s. He saw the rise of Israel into Palestine, his country, and saw his life taken away. He dedicated himself to the black forces of the universe and allowed them to take over his life. It's the same situation we know of as walk-ins that come to be of service. He allowed a negative walk-in to take his place in his life. His whole purpose is to groom the Anti-Christ to take his powerful place in the world's destiny.
D: We were also confused about the mention of a grandtrine.
J: The grand trine takes place in the Anti-Christ's ascendancy. Saturn is in Pisces. I can't see the rest of it. He says, "Look that up; it will be in the mid-1990s."
D: He also saidthe three water signs related to three bodies of water.
J: Yes, Nostradamus says he was referring to the near East When he comes to power, Saturn will be in the water sign of Pisces. He says he will make his rise in power in the early to mid-1990s.

** Little astrology info Saturn is back in pisces March 7 2023 and it'll stay until February 13, 2026 **

Edit 1 (17 October 2023)
** After the bombing of hospital tonight many protests in middle eastern countries. I found this quatrain about Israel and Palestine conflict and eu vs. middle east **
Volume 2 page 207-208
Le grand Satyre & Tigre d'llyrcanie, Don presente a ceux de l'Occean: Un chefde classe istrade Carmanie, Quiprendraterre au Tyrren Phocean
The great Satyr and Tiger of Hyrcania; gift presented to the people of the Ocean: the leader of a fleet will come forth from Carmania and land at the Phocea of Tvre.
J: He says this quatrain refers to the Turkish-Greek war that will occur soon enough. The Turks will try to sue for peace, and the Greek king will be duped. The king and queen will be outraged by Turkey's military might and its desire to control a lot of the Greek islands in the AEgean Sea.
D.' He said before, the war wouldn't last very long.
J: No. But this quatrain deals with this war in the eastern Mediterranean.
D: What is the symbolism of the Satyr and the Tiger?
J: He says the tiger represents Israel, and the Satyr represents the glory of ancient Greece. They will make an alliance and this will bottle up the Turks and Arabs who are trying to destroy Israel.
When I began my research I thought this might be a mistake. Hyrcania was a province of the ancient Persian Empire on the shores of the Caspian Sea. How could that relate to Israel? But I found two famous men named Hyrcanus who were very important to the early history of Isral. One was the founder of the monarchy of Judea which continued in his family until the accession of Herod. The other man was high-priest and king of the Jews. He was put to death by his successor, Herod, in 30 B.C.E. I am guessing that Nostradamus used the name Hyrcanie as an anagram for Hyrcanus. In this way it could refer to Isael, according to his convoluted way of thinking. Carmania was a province of ancient Persia. Does that mean they will have more than a passing interest in this short war? Tyre was an important seaport in ancient Phenicia. Phenicia was an ancient kingdom on the Mediterranean in modern Syria and Palestine.
Phocean could be an anagram for Phenicia. Again, this seems to be a hidden reference to Israel and the Arab world.
D. It says "giftpresentedto the people of the Ocean, "andocean is capitalized J: He says an alliance will be created between Greece and Israel against Turkey, and their ceremonies will be conducted on the water.
Nostradamus had indicated in another quatrain (CENTURY 1-83, Chapter i6) that this war would occur soon, in the middle of the 199gs.”
Edit 2: 19 April 2024
Israel vs Iran conflict
Volume 1 - Chapter 17 The Monster Appears
“ Palais,oiseaux, paroiseau deschass6, Bien tost apres le prince parvenu: Combien que horsflueve ennemi repoulse, Dehorssousi traitd'oiseau soustenu.
Birds at the palace, chased out by a bird very soon after the upstart prince. How many of the enemy are repulsed beyond the river, the upheld bird seized from without by a trick.
CENTURY 11-23
B: He says this refers to when the Anti-Christ takes over Iran. In order to be able to take over the country, he has to use a decoy to trick the Ayatollah in charge. The birds represent the hangers-on at court, the chattering magpies, the sycophants, the ones that tell the leader what he wants to hear. The bird that is upheld is the decoy that the Anti- Christ uses. When he starts to take over Iran he will drive away internal supporters of the Ayatollah by starting a civil war. Then he will put forth a man as a leader. A man for Iranians loyal to the Ayatollah to concentrate their hate on. This man will end up being assassinated in the process of Iran being taken over, and they will think they have succeeded in foiling the attempt by assassinating him. Only to find out that he was a decoy all along, and that they have played right into the hands of the Anti-Christ. “

This is a sample of D.B. Myrrha's excellent work, her latest at RENdezvous! Please visit for more: https://renegade328.wordpress.com/
October 6, 2023 Analysis
a lyrical analysis by D.B. Myrrha
Ren’s recent offering, Down on the Beat, featuring the deep-voiced Brighton rapper with pretty cheekbones, Viktus, is a clever, bar-rich hip-hop offering over a driving, bass-heavy, EDM beat.
As I’m neither a musician nor a producer, I’ll be mostly focusing here on the poetic form and wordplay, only briefly pointing out things I’ve noticed musically. This should take me a lot less time than my last dissertation. It might also have fewer dick references, but it probably won’t.
I’ll also be concentrating on my own interpretation of the lyrics, which means they will likely not be as comprehensive. I have watched several reactors, although I thought I might die if I watched sixty this time, so I only watched the sexiest ones. I welcome comments adding other interpretations, or nicely telling me I know fuck-all.
Now, on to the meat.
The Lyrics
(Hook) When I put it down on the beat I’mma make it sound so sweet When you hear the sound of the gun That’s a cue to run
When I put it down on the beat I’mma make it sound so sweet When you hear the sound of the gun That’s a cue to run (bla)
Immediately, the EDM beat kicks in. The vocals are flattened and distorted. Ren seems to be electronic-ifying his voice to make it part of the EDM sound itself (I’m pretty sure I just made up a word, but fuck it.) The sound is pretty cool and, when played loud, makes me want to take a bunch of ecstasy and dance in an abandoned car park waving glow-sticks.
Ren struts in with a flex on his tongue. He’s gonna spit some bars. When he tells you to run when you hear the gun, it means you’d better be prepared to try to catch up with him. What exactly is he putting down on the beat? It it simply the vocal track? Could it be detractors? Is this some sort of foreshadowing?
This here is the starting gun, and he’s about to Usain Bolt out of here: good luck catching up. It’s a race, a competition, a challenge to match his skill.
He is also intimating that he is the starting gun. He’s the instigator of the art, but also the one who’s in control. He reiterates this by repeating what he said again.
The bla! at the end of the verse is only one of many vocalized sounds Ren uses in the song to blend with the instrumentation. That boy is certainly good with his mouth. His pretty, pretty mouth. (At least that’s what your mom told me.)
(Verse) When I put it down on the beat I’mma make it sound so sweet Likkle men love to speak I don’t lose sleep in the whispers of sheep
In this first section of verse 1, Ren uses near end rhymes (beat, sweet , speak, sheep) to create a steady rhythm. Internally, he uses two types of rhyme. Down and sound are both internal rhymes that echo one another, while sleep joins the end rhymes aurally (and also orally, as they come out of Ren’s mouth.)
Here comes Ren’s initial attempt to confuse Americans with the use of a British colloquialism. He’s given up trying to pander to us, and left us to struggle, as we often do, with the English language. The word likkle means “little” and it’s a word borrowed from Jamaican patois. We already know Ren has a great appreciation for the Jamaican sound. For what it’s worth, Amy Winehouse uses the word in her song I’m No Good (“likkle carpet burns”) and no one complained about that.
Ren doesn’t lose sleep in the whispers of sheep. While he found himself miscounting them in Suicide, he is sleeping soundly now while “sheep” (little men, detractors and nay-sayers) are baaaah-ing their nonsense. He feels no need to follow the herd, either. He has his own things to say, as he goes on to tell us.
When you hear the sound of the gun Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat, that’s my tongue Spit like thunder come Drums in Moria, boom, boom, rum-rum-tum
This verse is simply exploding with onomatopoeia. Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat, boom, rum-rum-tum, all exploding sounds, warning of dangerous spitting to come (like thunder.) Simple end rhyme keeps the sounds contained. For now.
Ren’s giving us some more tongue-action in his rat-a-tat-tat-lickety-flickety rap style. He’s coming at us fast (I’m assuming “thunder come” isn’t another soup ingredient.) This thunder can be heard in the drums of Moria, the deep Dwarven realm in Lord of the Rings, the first film reference of many in this song.
Moria is the realm of the Balrog who, like Ren, is/spits fire. The competition needs to fuck right off: they shall not pass.
I’m a king, who’s the king? I’m a king, I’m the king of the ring, I’mma run this thing I’m a don, yan-ying on a ying-yang thing Jump upon that swing of the drum, vim-vim-vim
Continuing with the Lord of the Rings theme, Ren claims to be a king. In fact, he’s king of the ring (Sauron, the all-powerful?) It is also possible that the ring refers to his other two ring-based passions: the boxing ring (referred to in countless other songs) or the wrestling ring (Swanton bomb references are common, and Love Music, pt. 3 contains a juicy Hulk Hogan reference. –Apropos to nothing, Hulk Hogan and I share a birthday. Yay, Leos!) Technically, there could be another reference, to a ring he put his finger in like Frodo. I mean he seems to find joy in surprise anal penetration, which could definitely cause a competitor to lose focus. YOLO.
The repetition of the word king adds percussion to the flow, as well as punctuating the lines with internal rhyme. The beat also drops here (between “I’m the king” and “of the ring”) with a thumping bass that rises up from the basement.
He then calls himself a don again. If this were a boxing reference, he could be referring to Don King, the famous American boxing promoter. Maybe he is throwing us a Toblerone after all. Of course, a don is the “kingpin” of any mafia family, and Ren is definitely part of a close-knit “family.”
Here, though, Ren flips the switch into a new scheme with a verbal upset. Yan Ying was a Chinese philosopher, a contemporary of the better-known philosopher Confucius, described as “by far the most creative thinker of the Chunqiu age”. So, I guess it didn’t matter what Confucius said when Yan Ying was around. Ren flips the name into yin-yang, the Chinese concept of opposite but interconnected forces, Chinese concepts being Yan Ying’s “thing”. The idea of the yin-yang, of all things containing both dark and light, is a common refrain in Ren’s personal philosophy, as well as being one of the main themes of “Hi, Ren.” He seems to be saying that he is a master of both good and evil, dark and light, and he’s gonna jump on that rhythm like he jumped in the back seat with your girl on the back streets of Brighton.
Incidentally, there is also a hip-hop duo called the Yin-Yang Twins. Just a fact for funsies.
As Ren jumps on the vim-vim-vim of the drum, he swings us into the next quatrain.
Voom-voom, blat, come through like that I’m not new to rap on a Zulu cap And I do do tracks, and I do make stacks What do you do, lad? are you true to that?
Voom-voom, more onomatopoeia, drums down upon the beat of a verse containing a nice set of internal to external rhymes. In fact, this quatrain contains double internal rhymes because Ren’s just a king like that.
voom/ through, blat/ that new/ Zulu, rap/ cap do do/ do, tracks/ stacks you do/ you true, lad/ that
This is some fancy writing, lad, I’m not going to lie. Ren has laid down a challenge to all comers. He’s not new to rap, and he can kick your likkle bum back to wherever it is you came from. The Zulu may refer to the mastery of Black OG rappers in referring obliquely to Shaka, the king of the Zulu nation, known for his ass-kicking military prowess. By using the term cap which in slang refers to something fake or dishonest, it can be assumed he’s letting the likkle sheep know he’s not trying to be anything he’s not. He’s no wannabe.
After all, what has he been doing? He’s making tracks, one after the other, and he’s becoming more successful, and he’s (perhaps) exaggerating his income, because he’s a rapper and he’s gotta make stacks (And I’m sure he does have a stack of 34 common house potatoes somewhere. That counts, right?)
When he refers to the recipient of his flex, he calls him “lad,” as if he’s a kid. I know British youth refer to their mates as lads, but in this context, it seems as if he’s talking down to him. What do you do? Are you as devoted to it as I am? Are you as good as I am? I doubt it. He’s the king, and everyone else is a peasant.
On this beat I’m fat like a sumo My name’s Ren and I know my judo Candlestick killer, kill them like Cluedo Numero duo? Numero uno.
This song, which switches flow in this section, has a lot of fat beats, especially with the throbbing bass line. Ren is also “phat”, a ’90s rap slang term meaning “excellent” (when not referring to a woman, wherein it usually meant “hot as phuck”. ) A Japanese sumo wrestler, of course, is professionally fat and lauded for it, as they are also strong and can steamroll (literally, if they wanted) over their opponents.
Ren tells us what his name is in several songs: Hi Ren, What You Want, Sixteen Bar Challenge, and Love Music pt. 2. Perhaps he’s afraid we’ll forget, or perhaps he’s just asserting dominance, putting his name out there like an O.G. Yeah, you still know me.
The real question people want to know, though, is, “Does Ren really know judo?” Taking into account his skills at basketball and boxing, we may have reason to doubt this claim, but since Ren is king, he can say anything he fucking wants to, and we’re intimidated. Judo, like Sumo, is a Japanese art, so it fits the theme as well as the scheme.
The game Cluedo is called Clue in the United States, which is why some reactors just thought it was a funny rhyme when it was really, again, just English. In the game of Clue/do, one of the potential murder weapons is a candlestick. There was also a real murderer who killed someone with a candlestick in 1958, but that was a gay hate crime, so I’m pretty sure Ren isn’t referring to that. He is getting back into that sexy Murderer vibe, though.
Clue was also a movie starring Tim Curry, who is English and took the role even though the title was spelled wrong. A true martyr for the Crown. Snake Venom V, one of the most awesome reactors out there, pointed out that a lot of Ren’s references are movies, and whether or not they were conscious (Ren does love movie references) it’s worth pointing them out.
Lastly, he queries, “Numero duo? Numero uno.” I’m not number two, I’m number one. And I’m extra sexy because I speak Spanish. If, as I suspect, Ren is directly or indirectly challenging someone, he has directly relegated them to the number two spot, and no one wants to be Number Two.
The verse starts a lovely repetitive lean on the vowels u-o, with sumo, judo, cluedo, numero, duo, uno. That last line is a doozy, with four u-os in a row. It leads us into the next quatrain, which could really just be seen as a continuation of the last one.
You know, speak so frank like Bruno Hey- Cera he loves Juno, Hugo Boss man drip with a new flow— true though Sharingan killer, they call me Naruto
Here go the u-os: you know/ Bruno/ Juno/ Hugo/ New flow/ true though/ Naruto. Not all of these are perfectly true to the u-o scheme in an exact sense, but they scan aurally, and everyone appreciates good aural.
On the superficial movie tip, Bruno, Juno, and Hugo are all films, and there are several anime movies in the Naruto series.
Digging a likkle deeper, though, there are a lot more obvious references to be found.
“Speak so frank like Bruno” is a good example. Lots of people immediately jumped to the movie Bruno (also known by the mock title Brüno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable in the Presence of a Gay Foreigner in a Mesh T-Shirt) , and its titular character played by Sacha Baron Cohen. Bruno is pretty frank, saying basically any outrageous shit he wants. However, the reference more likely points to Frank Bruno, a British boxer with a 95% knockout-to-win ratio. He lost to Mohammed Ali twice, and was a popular celebrity even after he retired. He was known for being very open about his battles with mental health.
We love how the next line opens with Hey– Cera which reminds us of “Que Sera”, which might be a coincidence, but its a nice mental resonance. Fans of Arrested Development (which we might say is a problem Ren battled in Love Music pt. 4), will know Michael Cera, who was, of course in the movie Juno with Eliot Page. Cera’s character plays Paulie, Juno’s BFF/ babydaddy/ boyfriend.
Hugo Boss is a fashion empire started by boss man Hugo Boss in Germany in 1923. His career really took off after he started producing sexy uniforms for the Nazis. Still, he’s dead now, and his house still creates some boss fashion and cologne. Ren is not a Nazi, but he is a boss, and his drip (cool and fashionable ) flow is undeniable. Ren is the boss man, dripping with a stylin’ new flow.
Ren may be the flow OG, but as he has shown us numerous times, even in this offering, he is a huge nerd. After the Lord of the Rings bars, he tops it with a dollop of anime. Naruto is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. Naruto was created as a one-shot manga in 1995, but soon became an important pop culture figure in the late ’90s and 2000s. There are 72 volumes of Naruto manga in the series. Enough to binge for at least two weeks, probably.
The Sharingan killer reference puts Ren back into the role of ruthless and inescapable murderer. In Naruto manga and anime, the Sharingan is an ability that allows a ninja to copy, by mere sight, their opponents’ techniques while gaining incredible reflexes and perceptive abilities. So Ren is flexing that he can learn anyone’s skill and reflect it back better and stronger. So, if you don’t think he’s the master rapper, he’s saying, fuck y’all. He’s Naruto.
(Hook)
Verse 2
Verse two opens up with a new voice (which somehow some reactors missed–I mean, Ren does change his voice a lot, but it’s a totally different accent, guys!) It’s Viktus, the Brighton lad with the rich deep tone and great cheekbones (as pointed out by outrageously flirtatious/ horny Canuck “The Wolf” Johnson.)
When I put it down on the beat I’mma keep the ground on my feet I don’t wear no crown on the street But you still know me
All of a sudden we realize that Ren’s posturing might not have just been for show to his general public, but focused on a more local target. Even if the bars weren’t pointed directly at Viktus, the younger rapper seems to have taken offense at Ren’s claim to superiority. There is a challenger to the king.
Viktus, then, would be the “lad” referred to by Ren in the previous verse; the one warned to “run” when Ren fires his thunderous tongue-gun.
Internal verse-by-verse flexing battles are no new thing. It’s a game played in character. Here, Ren is the boss man confronted by a cheeky newcomer who seems prepared to challenge Ren for the title of sovereign.
It’s Viktus’s turn to put it down on the beat, and by this perhaps he means to put his rival down to the beat of the verse (for isn’t that what he perceives Ren just did to him?) It’s also, of course, just his turn to master a verse and put the king/murderer in his place like in some Shakespearean tragedy.
However, Viktus claims he has no need to brag about his sovereignty. He keeps his feet on the ground and doesn’t need to parade around with a crown to show his status. Everyone, at least in Brighton, still knows who he is.
And here he dips into the Forgot About Dre reference that Ren used in Love Music pt. 4: scooping it up from right under him. “You still know me.”
Vik has his own command of internal/external rhyme with down/ beat, ground/ feet, crown/ street, not to mention the end word me, a near rhyme that segues into the next stanza with
Still the same old V Still the same old house on the same old street With a brand new flow on a same old beat And it turns to gold every time I speak
“Still the same old V ” echoing “Still the same O.G.” quoted by Ren in Love Music pt. 4. This suggests that he and Ren know one another. Vik proposes that Ren has changed, become inflated in his ego, while Vik has stayed down to earth; no less known or regarded, except by Ren, his rival.
Viktus is still a home boy in the literal sense. He still lives in his same house in his same street. He is a neighborhood fixture, and everyone knows him. His flow, though, is new, suggesting that he is fresh, ready to take on the self-proclaimed King and assimilate his territory. (Is resistance futile? Who knows what we will find out by the end of the song.) Viktus does proclaim that his words turn to gold with his new flows, so its obviously he is taking up/presenting a challenge.
The scheme is similar to some of Ren’s above with the repetition of the word old: old V, old house, old street, new flow (breaks up the monotony), old beat. Flow near-rhymes with old, and the “new flow” shows that not everything is exactly the same in the old neighborhood.
If the characters Vik and Ren espouse in the song grew up in the same estate (estate= British housing projects) then this plays out as a musical turf-war, like it might in any ‘hood in the U.S. Two rappers head-to-head, fighting for local, if not worldwide, supremacy. Vik seems determined to show himself equal to Ren.
Look me in the eye, bro, thriller like Michael Wait, delete that, I made a typo. Michael Myers, Halloween psycho Light them fires, arsonist, pyro
The freaking bass, man. It seems to be turned up to eleven here, just to underscore Vik’s deep tone, and it hits hard.
Viktus goes hard, jumping into a Michael Jackson bar, then spinning the Thriller into a new scheme.
Oops, he says, “I made a typo”, He referenced the wrong Michael, and the wrong type of thriller. He’s talking hardcore horror, man, not just MTV zombies. Michael Myers is the psychotic killer in thirteen Halloween movies (movie references are not just one sided in this battle, I guess.)
Vik is flexing that he is dangerous, insane, maybe a worse murderer than Ren because he’s a ruthless psycho. He’s an arsonist, compelled and ready to light fires: make things hot, fire up (initiate/instigate) a competition, cause controversy (hot topics) He’s a pyro, he can’t help setting things aflame.
The rhyme scheme here (eye bro/ mi-chael/ ty-po/ my-ers/ psy-cho/fi-res/ py-ro…leading into spy–ro and Frodo) depends on a two-syllable rhythm with an I-o emphasis. Vik’s accent allows the near rhyme of “Michael” blend in almost effortlessly. Myers and fires are a little farther outfield, but they mirror one another and with the I-uh scan, they can easily get caught up in the flow.
Spyro dragon, I’m Frodo baggin’ All the shit you’re chatting, your teeth get smashed in Extracting like dentist grafting Nitrous oxide gas, no laughing
While Spyro and Frodo mirror the rhymes in the previous quatrain, the scheme changes to the second word in each phrase, ending with -in. Internal/external rhymes include dragon/baggin‘ and grafting/laughing (which rhyme perfectly when accent is taken into account.)
Spyro dragon is a video game reference to a late 90’s Playstation game. Spyro is cute and purple, he looks harmless, but he has fire for breath, so once again, Spyro Vik is the arsonist coming from the sky. Don’t underestimate the newcomer.
Viktus spins Ren’s LOTR reference into a diss. “I’ll be ‘Frodo Baggin’ the teeth I’ve just smashed out of your shit-talking mouth. The teeth right out your mouth, bitch.” Apparently someone has heard Life is Funny.
“After your mouth meets my fist,” he claims, “you’ll need oral surgery, and even with laughing gas, it’s gonna seriously hurt.” (Guess life’s not that funny, after all.)
Vik is making it clear he’s no joke.
When I put it down on the beat I’mma lay her down in the sheets Take her to the circus, she’s a freak Vegan girl, she still likes my meat
Now Vik really starts talking shit right back at Ren. Ren starts into the chorus, but Vik interrupts. He’s upping the ante here by taking it to a personal level. He’s gonna put his rhymes down on the beat, and what’s more, he’s laying a girl down in the sheets where they are gonna make a new beat together.
Apparently this young lady is quite a freak in these sheets, willing to do whatever Vik, and now we, to be honest, are vividly imagining. She’s likely gonna both condone the bone and eat it like Toblerone.
Apparently, Viktus’ penis is not triangular, however, as he refers to it as some type of “meat” which happens to be appetizing even to a vegan girl. Perhaps it looks like a veggie sausage? Regardless, they are obviously going to grind something, and it’s not impossible burger.
Feed the girl ’cause it’s time to eat Toes curl when I’m in too deep Fucked your girl, and now you really wanna beef Oh, shit! He’s knocking on the front door, leave!
Oh, it ‘s time to eat? We now have an inkling how this is going down, so to speak. Apparently Vik is good at laying down the beat as her toes are curling, which is a positive sign. And he didn’t even have to lock her in the basement. But what? It’s Ren’s girl? (We didn’t see this coming, did we?) Of course, now he’s rubbing it in Ren’s face (the facts, not his proverbial meat stick) that he got his woman freaking down in his sheets. Now Ren wants beef? More like Viktus is the one calling for war.
And who’s that at the door? Better get out of here, girl!
Interestingly, this scene brings to mind the possible response Screech might have had to Patrick if only he had known…
This is also a karmic twist to Ren’s actions in Right Here, Right Now where he banged his friend’s girl, then had to go Usain Bolt when her brother showed up at the door. Interestingly, Ren handed Vik a Stella and gave him some brotherly love in that same video; the last person he interacted with before saying he’s gonna go undercover with someone’s lover. Maybe this is some sort of payback? That Ren. He’s a naughty boy.
Viktus just played him a dirty hand, nonetheless. The rhyming continues in a similar internal/external scheme with girl/eat, curl/deep, girl/beef and then the final “Leave!”
Ahhh, what the fuck?
Ren doesn’t sound pleased. He probably just saw his half-dressed girlfriend fleeing the scene. This little fuck-boi just crossed the line. It’s time for Ren to go beast-mode.
Verse 3
Step back, sucker, fuck up the scene Tuck my socks up, chop chop I’m a millipede on my feet Mohammed Ali with my reach Biting double D’s in my teeth
Uh oh, Ren’s back, pissed and ready to fight, with his Adidas socks tucked up (over his tracksuit bottoms? I swear, he’s the only human in the world who can make that look cool.)
Internal rhymes are once again used to figuratively “punch up” the stanza: sucke fuck up, socks up/ chop chop. Then there’s the Ali/ double Ds , and the end rhymes -pede/ feet/ reach/ teeth (ee/ea sound.)
A millipede has hundreds of feet (most species have about 300 legs), so Ren is both stable and steady. It’s not easy to knock him off kilter, even if you’ve just Tobler-boned his girl. Chop, chop, better run, boy.
Obviously, with 300 feet, Ren can get where he needs to go and move swiftly back and forth, which will aid in his Muhammad Ali “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” act (Ali and/or boxing are referenced in nearly a dozen songs as I pointed out in the last analysis.) Not only was Ali known for his quick reflexes and ability to dodge O.P.P. (other people’s punches), but for his awesome reach when he, in turn, punched people. Also reach could easily be a reference to the fact that Ren is getting recognition everywhere; his reach extends worldwide, while Vik is still local. It’s a little tap in the face.
As a woman, the line about biting double D’s in his teeth is a bit terrifying and seems a bit extreme. I made a desperate attempt to discern an alternate meaning for this line and sadly, found little help on the interwibbles. Perhaps this is why his girlfriend was looking for another option. Of course, if she’s a freak in the sheets, who knows what she likes. A “double D” is also, apparently, a Pilates exercise, but even though Ren claims to be a “P.T.” in the next stanza, I don’t think these two are exchanging workout tips.
I’m a freak, I’m a goated PT on the beat You’re a neek, you’re a little fuckboy, you’re a geek Let me speak, I’mma cut like Troy when I preach I’m a beast, I’mma come Loch Ness, unleashed, preach!
Oh, see? He admits he’s also a freak, so that biting thing makes sense. Maybe he and his girl met on FetLife?
We know Ren is the G.O.A.T., and of course he has to remind this little upstart of his standing. The meaning of P.T., however, is not really clear in this context.
According to my academic resources, P.T. can refer to: physical therapist, a popular but discontinued Japanese psychological Horror Game (published in 2014 by Konami for Playstation), play time (sex), post text, public thot, pussy twitch (a guy so hot he makes girls twitch), Pacific Time, a pint of codeine and promethazine with a seal on top, P.T. Barnum (the famous circus dude and purveyor of “freaks”), public transport, “penis twerk”, or “pound town”. Several of these might fit Ren’s repeated themes, but I like to think he means “pussy twitch” because he is reasserting his sexual dominance. Either that or the Murderous video game or the Freak Master. He’s the king of both fucking and killing, so watch out.
He goes on to call Viktus a mere fuckboy: an easy, callous lay, a jerk, or a worthless weak-ass wonton worth nothing. For what it’s worth, fuckboy has over 300 definitions in the Urban Dictionary, but “cheap lay,” is the basic gist. Vik might of fucked his girl, but it doesn’t make him anything better than a quick trick.
Not only is Vik a sexual empty set, he is also a neek. Neek is a word that blends the words nerd and geek. I know where Ren is trying to go with this, but isn’t this the pot calling the kettle black, considering Ren’s multiple reference to certain movies and video games? Never mind. He’s the murderer, he gets to say whatever he wants.
The word geek implies a weak, harmless, boring person with no social skills who is low on the popularity totem pole. Once again, Ren is telling Vik that he is nothing in comparison to Ren’s swagger and popularity. A geek was also originally a term referring to a type of circus performer who entertained the audience with gross acts like biting off and swallowing chicken heads. I guess we’re all freaks here, only some are apparently sexier than others.
Ren is certainly a wordsmith with a tongue like a weapon (as mentioned in Genesis, as well as in the first verse of this song.) In this case, it’s a knife and it’s about to slice Viktus to shreds. Troy is another movie reference. This movie is about the battle of Troy, a city in ancient Greece. The Trojan war was waged over a devastating decade of massive bloodshed. It was also a battle over a woman.
Speaking of ruthless women, Ren now invokes Nessie, the Loch Ness monster. Ren is a monster rising from the depths…he’s huge and will easily overwhelm any geeky little fuckboy.
Ren is here to preach. He’s about to tell the truth, lay it down for reals, blud.
Personally, this might be my favorite part of the song. Not only are the rhymes skillfully syncopated, but they are actually sung if you listen closely. It’s rare, though not impossible, for a rap cadence to have a melody. Here it feels almost incidental, as if Ren can’t help it because the bars lend themselves to a certain musicality.
The repeated assonance using the ee sound is slithery as an eel. freak/ P.T. (that’s two!)/ beat/ neek/ geek/ speak/ preach/ beast/ unleashed/ preach! Both the first and last lines have three rhyming words, while the middle two have two ee rhymes and an oy rhyme. This secondary rhyme, fuckboy/ Troy is mirrored visually by goated and Loch, even though they don’t rhyme aurally.
Who’s that boy who moves like a raver Oi, oi, oi, a new tasty flavour Anakin flow, I glow like a saber No sweat, bro, I’m loving the labour
Back to a simpler rhyme scheme, Ren’s obviously referring to himself as the raver, waving his glow sticks in the air, and as a tasty treat.
A hot young chav yelling “Oi” is yes, a new tasty flavor. A mating call for all the freaks, for sure. Personally, I’d happily take a bite of that house potato. He knows he’s hot. There’s always another girl ready and waiting. It’s no longer about his (likely) ex- anyway, it’s just the insult/challenge Viktus laid down that’s the problem now.
Anakin flow is an obvious reference to Star Wars (who were you calling a neek, again?) Anakin, as we all know, is evil, so Ren’s (not surprisingly) channeling the Dark Side, (Murderer) and glowing like a lightsaber. Thanks again to Snake Venom for pointing out that a light saber is really just a giant (yet lethal) glow stick. We must not forget, either, that Ren glows with energy, radiance, and fame. Of course everyone sees him and wants to bask in his light. Vik is obviously one of those.
No lie, he loves this work: all he has to do is be who he is and look how far he’s come. He’s the king.
Work, work, work, a work workaholic She twerk, twerk, twerk, she’s twerking right on it One on the backseat, one on the bonnet Grabbing my William, this is my sonnet.
Is Ren the workaholic referred to here, “loving the labour” as seen in the last stanza (aside: my American keyboard does not love the flavour of the English language) or does this line refer to the twerker who is putting all of her focus on “twerking right on it” (obviously a play on “working on it.”)
Obviously girls are aplenty around here, as Ren has one in the backseat and Vik has one on the bonnet (“hood” for you hapless U.S.ers) of the car. Obviously, while they may be beefing, it’s not so bad that they can’t be “beefing” in/on the same car simultaneously.
Geez, Ren, all this automobile intercourse is giving me flashbacks. I can’t see how that can be comfortable, bruv. However, if it comes down to it, I’d rather be in the backseat than on the bonnet, at least in public… I’ll have to think about it. A lot. Alone. Late at night.
Anyway, it doesn’t matter since you had to bring William Shakespeare into the mix. I’m pretty sure he’s be amused at your ribald willie joke, after all, he’d totally get it on with your mum if he could. Your (presumably new) girl’s grabbing of your William has become your new love poem. You, sick boi, are the height of romance.
Mirroring the repetition of “oi, oi, oi” in the previous stanza, Ren keeps chopping the beat up with “work, work, work, a work workaholic” and “twerk, twerk, twerk, she’s twerking right on it.” I think we can assume what “it” is.) Following up –aholic and on it with bonnet and sonnet completes the scheme. Backseat and bonnet (two syllables, b-t, b-t) offer a nice mirror-image between them, especially since Ren and Vik each take one part of the line.
I’m that fella sipping Stella we call that an in-ter-stellar I’m a rapping Cinderella, serve it like its mozzarella Acapella, say it better, bend a beat like Uri Gellar Go getter, trend setter , on your feet like David Guetta
Stella Artois is a delicious and popular beer in the U.K. (As I pointed out earlier, Ren hands Vik a Stella before going off to bone some other guy’s girl in Right Here, Right Now.) So does interstellar just refer to a Stella in the belly? Interstellar also means “in between the stars”, perhaps referring to the fact that he’s a rising star, or up among the stars. (Interstellar is also a movie, for those counting up the film titles.)
Cinderella happens to be cockney rhyming slang for fella (thank you, English person whose name I’ve forgotten who mentioned this. ) It is, of course, also a fairy tale (he sure does love his children’s literature!) The question is: does he turn into a pumpkin at midnight? (Shout out to Ray Vibes for the inquiry.) Or is it simply that his success is like a fairy tale, magical and coming out of nowhere? (Never mind that Cinderella only succeeded through the help of others. I don’t see Ren naming his fairy godmother. Rude!)
He’s about to serve his rhyme now like it’s mozzarella. Cheese will be referred to again several times, as it’s a slang reference to money, but here it could be a different type of cheese, as mozzarella could refer to anything fine, pleasant, attractive, or sexy, like his phat bars.
Acapella means no music, so, when rhyming acapella, what one says really stands out. One has to “say it better,” as they can’t hide behind the music. Ren also bends a beat like Uri Gellar, a magician and mesmerist who claimed he could bend spoons with his mind. (Probably still does, as he’s still alive and commented on the video, grateful for the shout-out.)
David Guetta, for those who aren’t aware, is a famous French D.J. and music producer; he makes the audience “get on their feet” to dance.
Once again Ren plays it up with the machine-gun rhymes, the rat-a-tat-tat tongue he bragged about in verse one. (fella/ Stella/ stella Cinderella/ mozzarella/acapella/ betteGellagettesetteGuetta.) If you include some of the preceding words, too, you will see he is also utilizing syllabic quadruplets in the first three lines (and in the last with “David Guetta”), which carry the flow along at a staccato pace. He then alters the central syllables in the last line to smoothly carry the rhythm into the following stanza.
Better and better, I serve it letter for letter The alphabet upsetter, I make the cheese, I make cheddar I got the berrrrrrrrrrrrrrretta vendetta , I’m spitting pepper When I skrrrrrrrt impeccable rhythms, the rap Mecca on the beat.
Ren claims that he is is getting better with every word/bar he spits. Each letter counts; he is serving it up and it is supreme.
–etta is the main rhyme ending used in this stanza (bette lette alphabet(ta)/ upsette chedda Beretta/ vendetta/ peppe …pecca…/ Mecca.) Ren’s accent leans into this scheme which wouldn’t work the same without it. Note how he adds an extra -uh syllable on to the end of alphabet just like he does in Illest of Our Time with “alphabetti spaghetti” (Although “Alphabetti Spaghetti” is a real thing in the U.K., so it really chaps my buttocks that the printed lyrics just say “alphabet.”) Once again, his tongue takes on the role of weapon, trilling the R on berrrrrrretta (which is a gun, as all Americans would obviously know.)
The architect of alphabet, Ren again scatters the letters and reconstructs them into mozzarella. And also cheddar. He makes money. Lots of money and even more money. This bitch could buy a lifetime supply of wonton soup if he had to.
Deep into his Berretta vendetta, he’s obviously not done with Vik, despite banging girls simultaneously on the same motor vehicle. Can’t let sleeping chicks lie, apparently. Ren wants to make it clear that what he’s spitting (pepper) is as hot as anything Vik can put out.
Skrrrrrt is a sound used in EDM and trap. It indicates a hard turn or drift with an automobile, getting to a place fast, so here he is referring to his ability to rap fast, change schemes and flows on a dime. A flex.
Mecca is a holy place where Muslims make pilgrimage (Muhammad Ali performed haaj in 1972.) Of course, Ren is the creator of bars others can only pay homage to with reverence.
He wouldn’t be the first king who thought he was God.
Hook/Outro
The song concludes with several repetitions of the hook flowing into the outro. These vary in style, with sounds replacing more and more of the words as the outro progresses, leaving the rap behind as it melds into the electric dance beat to lead us out.
Final Thoughts:
This song is catchy and ultimately danceable. I could easily hear it bumping on a dance floor in a club I could not get into.
Viktus’s interplay with Ren is delightful, and he definitely holds his own. Although his style of rap is not the same as Ren’s, it’s good stuff (go check it out and give Vik some love at @Itsviktus on YouTube and @its_viktus on Instagram.) I have no doubt he’s going to go far.
Who knew Brighton would be the upcoming rap center of Britain, and maybe the world? At the very least, it will be the center of rappers battling out in the backseat and on the bonnet.
Until next time, Oi, Renegades!
c. 2023 D.B. Myrrha.
Blog at WordPress.com. Rendezvous
A Renegade Journal

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide me. I really appreciate it.
This is the article: https://www.skepsis.no/et-norsk-nisseunivers/
At the bottom, I will post what Google Translate told me directly below I will post the parts that don't make sense to me.
I know "goblins" or "gnomes" translate to multiple Nisse or "santa" means a Nisse.
I don't fully understand the last 2 lines of the quoted piece at the top (maybe because it rhymes in Norwegian?): "O Goblin, underground some soul does against As long as they see, against this people is good".
In the second section, called "Norse belief and practice" in English, I don't understand what "jots" means in the first paragraph, second sentence and last sentence.
In that second paragraph, I don't know the difference between "habits and habits" at the end of that first sentence. In the third sentence in that same paragraph, I don't know what "vane family" means. In the second to last sentence in that same paragraph, I don't know what vanas. I think it's connected to Vette, Vættir or Vettir, but I'm not 100% sure. In the last sentence of that paragraph there are 2 kinds of elves listed. What's the difference?
In that third paragraph, I'm not sure what "vets" in the first and third sentences means. I'm thinking it's "Vette" again but not 100%. The third sentence in that paragraph that google translated to " The Vets appear in the sagas as near-human powers in communication with humans" doesn't make sense to me. I'm assuming "powers" is similar to "spirit" or "divine being". In the fourth sentence in that paragraph, I'm assuming "sages" means "sagas".
In the 7th paragraph in that same section, I do not know what "ostriffue" means.
In the 14th paragraph in that section, google provides 2 words to both mean "witches". I don't know what the difference between these 2 words is.
In the 3rd section that google translated to "From helpful good farmer to hard-hitting hothead - the goblins in the farm community" in English, in the second paragraph and second sentence, "Only a few had it closed", I do't know what that means. In the 3rd sentence of that same paragraph, I don't know what "he always made it so that they had just shut off the crematorium" means. In the second to last sentence in that paragraph does it really mean "flirt"?
In the 3rd paragraph in that same section and first sentence, I don't know what "beat" means. In the second sentence in that same paragraph, I don't know what "slaatta" means. I don't know what the 4th sentence means "He walked down Torje's belt and struck." Who is Torje? Again, I don't know what "beaten" means in the last setence. I'm assuming it has to do with threshing grain but I'm not 100% sure.
In the 4th paragraph in that section, I don't know what this part means in the 3rd sentence "there was no way the help the gnomes gave to the farm." In the last sentence in that paragraph, I don't know what "tina" means.
In the 9th paragraph in that section, does it really mean "sheriff"?
In the 12th paragraph in that section, I'm assuming this part "There is a rush around the ears from hard-hitting ear figs" means an "ear boxing" or a slap across an ear.
In the 14th paragraph in that section, I'm not sure what "a little puzzle" in the second sentence means. I think it's describing the Nisse but not 100% sure.
In the 16th paragraph in that section, I'm assuming the "farmer" is a Nisse. I'm also assuming in the 3rd sentence "hill farmer" is more like "mound farmer".
In the next section "The nurturing gnomes", first paragraph, 3rd setence, I'm assuming Nordland means Norway.
In the 3rd paragraph in that section, in the first sentence, I don't understand "Then the year turned into a year."
In the 6th paragraph in that section, in the 3rd sentence, I'm assuming "hissing earwig" is an ear boxing or ear slapping.
​
​
Google Translate:
With goblins one must maintain a sincere friendship:
They otherwise in a house can cause a lot of evil:
O Goblin, underground some soul does against
As long as they see, against this people is good
Peder Paars
In the stories that were collected and written down, the goblin appears as a diverse being. He is both a welcome member of the farm community and a dangerous being that you had to protect yourself from. In the 19th century, the goblin is not depicted as one clear figure. The stories describe various figures who had different names, functions and characteristics. These figures constituted local and individual variants that were neither depicted nor perceived as one goblin figure. The accounts of them differ from the later interpretation and use of the goblin figure. At the end of the 19th century and throughout the 20th century, a literary tradition was created about the gnomes. They are then simplified, stereotyped and adapted to the needs and use of new times by emphasizing certain characteristics of them, and some motifs in the stories, to the advantage of others. It is in this context that the goblin was created. We will return to this in the next chapter. First, we will take a closer look at the diverse stories about the various goblin figures in the folk tradition.

The goblins in the Norwegian storytelling tradition

In the Norwegian storytelling tradition, the gnomes' origins are often explained with biblical references. Most of the explanations refer to the account of creation and the first people who lived on earth. One of the stories revolves around Eve being Adam's second wife. The first wife is said to have had children who laughed at Vårherre. Our Lord was angry about this, and he therefore made them invisible and sent them underground. Because of this they became wits, and shy of light and people. Eve was created from Adam's rib and in biblical interpretation correctly. In some interpretations, the origin of the goblins is explained by the fact that the underground were fallen angels who had stuck to Lucifer and thus had been cast out.
However, the most common origin explanation was the story about Adam and Eve's children. Adam and Eve eventually had many children. One morning Eva saw Our Lord walking towards their home, and she realized that he had thought of a visit. She immediately began to take care of her children so that they could meet Our Lord well-groomed and clean. However, she did not manage to get them all finished, and before Our Lord came, she therefore hid the unfinished ones away. Our Lord came, looked at the well-groomed children and asked Eve if these were all the children she had? Eva answered yes. Then Our Lord said: "What is hidden from Our Lord must also be hidden from man."
The children whom God could not see, thus became the ancestors of the underground, and at God's command made invisible to people. They could still show themselves to people if they wanted to.
The origin stories explain the background for why the goblins are in a parallel world to the humans. They were basically people like us, but due to various circumstances were placed at the back of the human queue. They were not considered full-fledged and were condemned to a life in the shadows. In the stories, however, the goblins were never far from the humans.
When the goblins approached the people, they were sometimes shy and sometimes forward and showed themselves to people. In many cases, however, only their tracks were visible, or you could hear them rummaging around in houses, barns or stables. They were often very short in stature, usually no more than a cubit long (approx. 60 cm). Some stories describe the goblins as giants who could stretch their arms and reach two houses that were far apart. They were dressed in gray woolen clothes and were wearing a red top hat. In some stories, goblins are portrayed as being so old that one had never seen anything so old before, in other stories they had faces like an ordinary, grown man. Some goblins could be strong as oxen and work faster and better than any human. In those cases where people thought they had touched a goblin, he was described as hairy and shaggy.
Mostly the gnomes appeared alone, and the tales generally reflect a perception that they lived alone. There are still stories that tell that the goblins lived with their goblin wife and goblin family, as we find parallels in the stories about the underground. It is still the gnomes as male figures that we meet in the stories. However, they appeared as much to women as to men or children, and they could often perform female and male tasks equally well. In the stories, the goblins thus place themselves on the side of humans' traditional gender role pattern. Although some goblins seem to have preferred certain people over others, the goblins are portrayed as fully social beings.
If they did not show, they were never far away, and they followed what was happening. The goblins could live in the barn or stables, or under these buildings. It also happened that they lived outside in nature, preferably by or in old trees or rocks. In a number of stories from Nordland, the gnomes also appear as both sea- and boat-accustomed and were often a permanent fixture in the fishing boats that went to sea.
The goblin figures are portrayed as natural beings. They were more at one with nature than part of human culture. In the stories, this therefore gives them qualities, characteristics and possibilities that were different from the human ones and instead closer to the forces of nature. The goblins were just as adapted and integrated in the coastal landscape as in the mountain areas, and a characteristic of the depictions of these beings was that they precisely mastered the environments in which they moved very well.
There are various theories about how the goblins eventually got the name goblin . Yes, many pages of research have actually been produced discussing the origin of the term goblin. Nisse is a pet name based on the personal name Niels or Nils. This name first appears in Denmark under the influence of the Nikolas cult in the Middle Ages, and later in Sweden. We can therefore assume that the term has come to Norway from one of our neighboring countries. The folklorist Ørnulf Hodne believes that the collective name Santa is unlikely to have been used for more than a couple of hundred years in Norway. This name connection appears to be the only relationship between St. Nikolas and Santa.
In Norway, the gnomes had many names. It gives us a clear clue that the term goblin is almost adequate for how the stories depict these beings. We can attribute certain common features and attributes to the later common term gnome, but we still find variations in how the legends portrayed the gnome figures, and in which functions and roles were attributed to them. Gardvord, gardsbonde, tunvord, tunkall, tuftekall, guardian, tomte, tomtegubbe, godbonde, rudkall and haugebonde are some of the names we know for the goblin figures.
The Eastern Norwegian designation tomte or tomtegubbe refers to the person who lived and ruled over the piece of land where a farm had been built. The name is most likely a Swedish influence that first entered the East Norwegian tradition. In the Norwegian context, tufte or tuftekallen had the same meaning as the Swedish expression tomt.
Rudkall and pile farmer are terms that indicate that the stories about these figures are very old. The names link to the fact that the figures originally cleared the farm grounds and were buried (piled) near the farm. This meant that the accounts of the Haugebond, the rudkallen and other beings in the 16th century and onwards were interpreted into a pagan, pre-Christian perspective.

Norse belief and practice

The Norse religion was not a fixed belief system with dogmas and teachings. The religion was characterized by a diversity of powers, and the main figures were the gods and the jots. The gods primarily represented cosmic figures and personifications of the fundamental forces in the world, seen from the human perspective. The gods were the ordered forces, while the jots were the opposing forces.
The gods of the Viking Age belonged to two families; habits and habits. The Æsirs included the gods Odin and his wife Frigg, Tor and Siv and Balder and Nanna. In the vane family, we only know the gods Njord, Frøy and Frøya by name. The knowledge we have of the Norse religion comes from the sagas and skald quatrains that were written down after Christianity had taken over the northern areas. Here the powers are referred to both as individual figures and as collectives. The Æsas and vanas belonged to the personified gods. The dwarves, elves, elves, mists, norns and valkyries, on the other hand, belonged to the powers referred to as collectives.
The Vets were linked to certain landscapes and regions, and acted as protective powers for people. It was important to maintain a good relationship with these spirits if one were to build a new home or travel through foreign territories. The Vets appear in the sagas as near-human powers in communication with humans. Although there are few sources of belief and practice related to the sages, they appear in the stories as figures who protected the farm, the farm people and the livestock, and to whom the people in return sacrificed and looked after. It is probably such a vette that is depicted in Olav Trygvasson's saga.
Several sagas provide examples of the problematic encounter between the powers of earlier times and Christianity. The sagas were written after Christianity had reached the northern regions, and are thus a product of Christian culture. When the sages complained that Christian prayers or holy water burned them, as in the example above, it is the entry of Christianity that is being described. Vetters and other powers and gods were renounced in favor of the god of Christianity. When Christianity was introduced, a church law came which forbade people "to have idols and altars in the home". This law came as a result of the religious practice which the men of the church observed among the people, and which they wanted to live on.
This meant that the Norse belief in God was gradually challenged more strongly than what the story above indicates. It is this Norse tradition that scholars from the 16th century onwards take up. They pointed out that in the depictions of the Norse sages and the later stories about the gardvorden, tunkallen and haugbonden, the beings appeared with parallel tasks and roles. They were linked locally to the farm, people and animals, and appeared as protectors of the farm community.
Before we go into the 19th century accounts of the various goblin figures, let's take a look at how scholars and priests interpreted the folk tales about supernatural beings.
In the 16th century, Luther was busy reforming Northern Europe and chasing away saints and all other ecclesiastical and folk traditions that could smell of Catholicism. Much of the popular culture was perceived by Luther as remnants of the Catholic faith, and with a growing crowd of Protestant priests, a great purification process began. In Luther's Huspostille , a devotional book written for the home, in a Danish translation from 1564, one could read about "huorledis mand skal ostriffue gaardnissers or de diefle, who rumble at night in the house".
Luther wanted to bring to life the notions of supernatural beings, and he referred to them in the same breath as devils. The cleansing work was not particularly successful if we look at how long the stories about these beings were told in Norway, and how long this tradition was the subject of scholarly criticism. In various records from learned men, who described the popular culture through travelogues and religious informational writings, popular ideas about supernatural beings were termed superstitions. In 1539, the Swedish Catholic, and later the Archbishop of Uppsala, Olaus Magnus published the Carta Marina , which was a map of the Nordic sea areas. In the maps, he drew a number of mythical and supernatural creatures in the Nordic geography - and especially in the surrounding sea. In the later releaseIn the history of the Nordic peoples , which is considered the first historical work about the Nordic region, he gives detailed descriptions of the beings that the Nordic people in earlier times thought lived in nature.
Olaus Magnus based his information on sources he himself had collected through a number of journeys in Norway and the other Nordic countries. In addition, he was a well-read man who found inspiration in other European literature. The historical work therefore appears as a strange mixture of exact observations and borrowings from the learned writings and opinions of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Among other things, he reproduces a drawing of a devil-like vette in male form sweeping a stable. Magnus does not name this wit, but depicts the being as a human-like helper who worked for the humans at night and looked after horses and cows. This creature would still be common in Norway.
The description Olaus Magnus gives of the older popular notions is not dissimilar to that which appears in the Dane Jens Hansen Odense's philosophical disputation on ghosts from 1673. He divided the ghosts into different classes, and the goblin figures appear as a category of their own. Odense's point was that people's tendency to trivialize the goblins did not hide the fact that they were diabolical ghosts.
While Odense placed the performances with "believers of old", the Norwegian writer Augustinus Ambrosiusen Flor referred to contemporary performances in his disputation on the Christmas cookies from the latter half of the 17th century. Here, too, the popular belief linked to Santa was severely affected. Flor wrote indignantly about how the notions of the goblin influenced and controlled people in various activities.
Those people have entered into an immense sea of ​​delusion, who, when they feel that the abundant flood of all happiness is led by God into their bosoms, hardly believe that they could keep such good and fat days, unless they persist in planting crops or other delicious dishes for the Santa Claus, especially before the holidays, as they are certain that everything will go wrong if there is the slightest deviation from that; although such goblins do not take what is presented and eat them to enjoy them, but in order to more easily seduce simple-minded people into their worship. […] This thick and harmful superstition has taken hold of many peasants' minds, both in Denmark and Norway, to such an extent that it is feared that the devils would drag such people with them to eternal perdition, who truly deserve everyone's pity.
The goblins didn't just have people in the palm of their hand. Flor also described in compassionate terms how the ideas about these beings were characterized by the belief in punishment if one did not do things correctly. In Flor's pen, the gnomes became the "Devils" who threatened to drag the people with them to "eternal perdition".
Less than a hundred years later, in a book published in 1736, the Danish priest Erik Pontoppidan picks up the thread from his predecessors. The book had the very descriptive title Fejekost - Til at udfeje den gamme leavenjg or those left in Danish lands and brought to this day relics of both paganism and papism . Pontoppidan was concerned with cleaning away everything he believed to be superstition among the common people, and he described superstition as remnants of paganism and Catholicism. With a detached view of the common people's belief in witches, witches and other supernatural creatures, he was able to explain and analyze the notions as an expression of a false religion.
All the writers who, from the 16th century until the 19th century, described the world of popular imagination, had the same goal: To emphasize the delusion it was to believe in such beings and to dismiss the ideas as superstition. The rhetoric of superstition, which thus characterized all the authors, invoked universally valid arguments. The arguments were derived from an overall cultural assessment of the beliefs and customs of the common people as less enlightened and less valid. The assessments were closely related to the difference between true and false religion. There was a tendency among the Protestant writers to characterize the delusions as Catholic remnants or remnants of pagan ideas in Norse culture. These notions were termed false religion. Common to all the descriptions was demonisationof the performances. Despite what the ignorant common people might believe, the goblins were evil and representatives of the devil. The performances were thus incompatible with Protestant teaching.
As we move into the 19th century, however, the tone changes. Through the nationally romantically inspired collection of the Norwegian folk tradition that was carried out in the 19th century, fairy tales, legends, ballads and traditions about customs and usage were recorded by priests, teachers and other scholars. In these records, the authors attempt to detach popular notions from theological judgments about true or false religion. Instead, the focus is on the folk performances being curious and exotic examples of an inherited and very old Norwegian culture. The main motivation among the collectors was to save this Norwegian culture from being forgotten.
Despite the fact that the tradition they collected was, even then, characterized as superstitious notions, it was still considered worth preserving. The collection zeal resulted in many stories about the goblins being written down.

From helpful good farmer to hard-hitting hothead - the goblins in the farm community

In some stories, goblins appear as good helpers and protectors of people. It is often portrayed as a privilege to have a goblin living on the farm, a privilege that not everyone had. This is illustrated in a story from the Lindesne region:
Not everyone was so lucky to have Nisse on the farm. Only a few had it closed. He helped in many ways. In barns and stables, he always made it so that they had just shut off the crematorium, and there was never any talk of regret. Flour and food bins in the attic and in the basement were never empty. In the kitchen he arranged cups and dishes and cleaned. He also helped with other work, preferably in the stables. But one had to take care of him and not flirt with him or freak him out in any way. Then he could cast misfortune on both people and cattle.
That the gnomes could be perceived as very useful in the farm operation is made clear by the following report from the same area:
Once early in the morning, Jakob i Stubakken and some others came from Osestad to Høyland and were to beat. They had a slaatta there. Then they became Santa. He walked down Torje's belt and struck. They went to the window and looked in to see if they would see anything for Torje. Yes, he lay in bed and slept. Then the Santa had beaten as much as a man could manage in a whole day.
In the stories where gnomes were considered useful for the farm, there was also often advice on how to get a gnome. Moreover, these tales also give instructions on how to treat the goblins. If you were kind to them, gave them food and room and preferably a made-up bed that was their own, left them alone and otherwise did not provoke them, there was no way the help the gnomes gave to the farm. Some stories describe what was done in order not to lose the resource they represented: "At Tangjen in Sæli, there were a couple of people who had Santa. Then they moved to Austad; but they took the goblin with them in a small tina […].”
In many stories, respect is returned with respect, and some goblins are also loyal and faithful to their master: "When Torje died and had to be buried, the goblin traveled with him. He was sitting in the saloon of a companion. They never saw him again."
In these stories, the gnomes are portrayed as integral members of the farm community. Just as fully, the goblins represented a parallel existence to the human one. The goblins weren't human, and you couldn't be quite sure what they could come up with. Therefore, it was important that they were treated with care and respect, and that they must not be provoked in any way. The stories primarily convey an invitation to follow given advance rules. If you followed these, you could at the same time gain greater control over the goblins and the parallel world, and you could live in peaceful coexistence with the goblins.
Precisely because the goblins had to be treated with care, we come across many examples in the legends of specific people handling them. Not everyone had the patience or knowledge to treat the gnomes properly. The legends say that the goblins often preferred some people over others. The goblins then show their dislike towards those they did not like by, for example, preventing them from their work.
At the sheriff in Spangreid they had Santa. Then they got a new service rep once and he didn't like it. When she was about to reach up the chimney, he lay down like a snake on the stone slab so that she did not dare to leave the chimney even once. The sheriff then told her that she should go away, then he would stay with him and get him back in good faith.
In this story, it is clearly the sheriff who has the best handshake with the goblin, and he is the one the goblin will relate to and listen to.
The gnomes also figure as direct leaders for work that is carried out on the farm. In the 17th century, a man from Ålvikane in Hardanger experienced this. He was going to build a new house. When he had decided on the place where it should lie, he drove the timber up to the place. The next day when he was to start work, the timber had been moved. The goblin had carried the log to a place nearby. The man then built the house where the Santa had decided.
While some goblins are considered a good and a privilege to have on the farm, other tales convey that people are in conflict with the goblins and want them off their farms. The goblins are here an element of unrest that means trouble, and who often trick people by hiding animals and tools. When these appear out of nowhere again, the laughter is heard from a joyful elf who is really enjoying having played a trick on the farm people.
However, when the farm's people defy the gnomes' wishes, they can become angry and dangerous, even downright violent. There is a rush around the ears from hard-hitting ear figs, implements fly between walls, and barns and stables are turned upside down. In these stories, the goblin appears as both cunning and vengeful. There should be no doubt as to who is the boss on the farm!
The legends often depict episodes between goblins and animals. In folk tradition, the gnomes often lived in the barn or the stable, and they therefore in various ways become part of the activity and the work that took place and was carried out there. The elves often act as the invisible helper at calf births, and are happy to take responsibility for cleaning and washing the barn alone. However, it is not always as easy to get a handle on what relationship the gnomes had with the animals. In some legends they take care of all the farm animals, while in other stories they show both ferocity and anger. The only case where folk tradition gives a clear picture of the gnomes' relationship with the animals is when it comes to the horse. From this also comes the expression pixie braid, where the horse's tail or man was braided by the goblins. The horse is portrayed as particularly dear to the gnomes, and they are both caring and protective of these animals. If the humans were not the same, the goblins took revenge.
A legend tells of Marte Bremersenga from Aamot in Østerdalen, who in the 19th century got to taste the wrath of a goblin when she gave horse hay to a newborn calf. When she had probably gone to bed, she heard a knock at the door. In comes "a little puzzle, ugly as if it were a spectacle, dressed in gray, with a gray beard, and a big thick lower lip that protruded". She sees that it is the goblin, and soon she gets to feel the goblin's temper on her body. The goblin jumps into her bed and starts beating her full force for taking the horse's hay. Only when she remembers to read her Lord's Prayer does the elf give up. But "then someone had beaten her, so she wasn't good at doing anything for many days..., and if she hadn't gotten to read the Father's Spring, she didn't know how it would have turned out".
Similar to this example, several legends describe how people protected themselves from the goblin in various ways. One piece of advice was to pray the Lord's Prayer out loud. Crosses or steel were also used to protect themselves. These objects were perceived as powerful and could "bind" the goblin and prevent him from doing mischief or harm.
In Telemark there was a farmer who got so angry because he had not had butter in his sour cream porridge on Christmas night that he took revenge by killing a cow on the farm. When he later finds the blob of butter at the bottom of the bowl, he tries to repair the damage by getting a new cow from another farm. The story shows both the hill farmer's unruly and violent temperament, but also his sense of justice and willingness to make amends. However, it goes badly beyond a cow, which the mound farmer does not seem to mourn significantly. It is rather his relationship with the people, and the desire to restore the balance in the relationship, which is most important.
Several stories depict how goblins could disagree with each other. Arguments about food supplies, farm boundaries or stealing could cause them to get completely at each other's throats. Then the farm people could witness or hear a terrible life where the goblins tested each other's strength and endurance. However, it could also affect people. Although there are plenty of examples in folk tradition of the gnomes being hot-tempered and unruly beings, several stories show completely different and more sympathetic features.

The nurturing gnomes

In general, the gnomes appear as less dangerous than other supernatural beings in the folk tradition. In fact, in many legends they are depicted as both moral and religious. A breathtaking story from Nordland gives us associations with the well-known English story about Robin Hood from Sherwood Forest. Here the goblin is described as the protector of the poor and champion of justice:
Two farmers lived near each other. One was rich and had plenty, while the other barely had food for the next day. The rich man was stingy like few, and although he had more than enough for himself, he could never afford to give anything away. The poor, on the other hand, gave as far as he was able to poor people who badly needed a subsidy.
Then the year turned into a year. The rich man had sown so much grain that he was doing well. The poor man had not had much seed and saw that there would not be much to harvest. He resented this, mostly because there was then so little to give away to the needy. But when he began to harvest his small field it was as if there would be no end to the grain. When he noticed one evening that there were only a couple of bands of grain left, which nevertheless turned into a lot of grain in the barn, he realized that something was wrong. He lay in wait in the barn, and at night he saw two goblins who came each carrying a bushel of grain.
The man approached them and asked what they were doing? Yes, said the gnomes, this was grain from the rich farmer, they explained. They knew that if the grain was with the rich farmer, he would not give anything to the poor, but if the poor farmer got the grain, he would share generously. The poor farmer protested, and believed that this was theft. The goblins still stood their ground and believed that they had not stolen for him , but for the poor. The poor farmer still didn't think it was right, and made the gnomes promise not to do it again. The goblins gave in, even though they thought they were in the right. They were so angry at the rich man's avarice, and thought he deserved the joke they had made.
Taking from the rich and giving to the poor becomes a moral mission that the gnomes undertake. Indirectly, they ensure that the poor are provided with food in difficult times, but the gnomes also punish the greedy farmer. The message in this story is that it should pay to show charity. The story thus receives an overarching moral message that conveys which human virtues are preferable, but also what can happen if one sins against them. The goblin figures are here placed in a human moral universe and have a clear educational function.
This is also made visible in other stories. Several legends give examples of how some goblins reprimand people for swearing or bad language. If they hear people using swear words or misusing God's name, they may respond with a hissing earwig, or they may give the sinner a verbal overhaul. In such cases, the goblins are assigned a control function vis-à-vis the humans. They make sure that no one exceeds the norms that apply to custom and use. In the stories, it is also the temperamental goblin figure who has the task of punishing those who exceed the norms.
In contrast to the tales of other supernatural beings in the folk tradition, the gnomes stand out by approaching the human world in faith and morality. While the hulderfolk's activities functioned as a norm for what humans could do - because they were a threat if the rules were broken - the goblins imitate humans and often appear as humans' helpers.
Until now, we have used the storytelling tradition about the gnomes to look at how the gnomes are produced. Scholars have interpreted and criticized stories and notions about goblins since the 16th century. The background was the ideological and theological norms of the elite, and the popular notions were termed deviations that the scholars wanted to overcome. The ideas were placed in a pagan belief system, and the "belief" was interpreted as remnants of earlier primitive ideas.
In the 19th century, the stories about the goblins were still interpreted as expressions of popular ideas about supernatural beings. In this period, however, it was not a main point to set folk tradition in opposition to the church's beliefs and teachings. Instead, the focus was on the performances being examples of an older, inherited Norwegian culture and tradition. At the same time, something happened with the use of the gnome figure towards the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. A new literary tradition about the goblins is then created, and new actors put the goblins into new contexts and use the goblins for new purposes.
While the narrative tradition collected in the 19th century represented a diverse gnome universe, the gnomes in the later literary tradition are fixed to one figure. This is where we meet Santa as we know him; fierce, but kind and with a great sense of porridge. Together with the Nikolas figure, the Norwegian Santa was integrated into the Christmas celebration, and later both figures also developed to become central symbols of this holiday. This is closely linked to the development of the bourgeois family and its importance for the modern Christmas celebration.
(Ane Ohrvik is a folklorist and works at the University of Oslo. This is an extract from the book Goblins which can be bought here .)

Sorry for the hiatus, I’ve been swamped with work and also got distracted writing a short storyfor a contest. But today I’m back with a poem that, despite being written in Victorian England, is sadly becoming topical again, at least here in Iowa, where Kim Reynolds is quietly giving ol’ Pudding Fingers DeSantis a run for his money as the most clownishly evil governor in the country.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning — half of one of the all-time great literary power couples (her husband Robert has influenced writers as diverse as T.S. Eliot, who was deeply impacted by Browning’s use of dramatic monologue, and Stephen King, whose Dark Tower series was inspired by one of the great examples of Browning’s use of that literary device, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”) — wrote today’s poem, “The Cry of the Children,” in 1843 in response to the report on child labor published by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Children's Employment in the previous year. The commission interviewed hundreds of people, mostly the child laborers themselves, about not just their work but their education (or lack thereof), diet, religious beliefs, and general day-to-day life. The report moved not just Browning (whose poem, interestingly, was published in the Tory magazine Blackwood’s — it would be nice if we could at least return to journalism that’s not completely polarized and cultureless if child labor is making a comeback, but I’m not holding my breath), but other writers such as Benjamin Disraeli, Elizabeth Glaskell, and, of course, Charles Dickens, to speak out against child labor.
Browning’s poem is a far cry from the Dickensian tales absorbed by pop culture, however. There are no loveable urchins, roguish thieves with hearts of gold, or comically grotesque bourgeoisie, just exactly what it says on the tin: a shockingly earnest expression of the pain and grief of those who had their childhood, and not infrequently their lives, stolen from them by the inhumane machinations of the Industrial Revolution.
The poem wastes no time establishing its subject and tone in the opening quatrain: “Do ye hear the children weeping, O my brothers,/Ere the sorrow comes with years?/They are leaning their young heads against their mothers, —/And that cannot stop their tears.” The poem is metrically irregular throughout, as Browning subordinates form to content to get her urgent political message across — this is not a poem to snap, dance, or tap your foot too. However, the rhyme scheme is consistent throughout the poem (ABABCDCDEFEF), which helps maintain the heightened emotional affect.
Next, Browning paints a picture of young animals in nature: “The young lambs are bleating in the meadows;/The young birds are chirping in the nest;/The young fawns are playing with the shadows;/The young flowers are blowing toward the west.” Fairly standard Romantic imagery, but here the point is not to glorify transcendent nature, but rather to contrast the carefree innocence of these juvenile creatures with with the dangerous, toilsome lives of their human counterparts who “are weeping bitterly!/They are weeping in the playtime of the others,/In the country of the free.” Very interesting that sarcastically referring to the deeply socioeconomically sick imperial power one lives in as “land (or country) of the free” is a tradition that goes back at least 160 years.
The next stanza compares the children not to other young creatures, but old ones. This shows that Browning is no naive utopian — she recognizes that suffering is an inherent part of existence, but that endured by child laborers is not natural; it is entirely preventable and it is in fact deeply immoral that we allow it to happen.
The fourth stanza is one of the most heartbreaking, as the children recount one of their own, Little Alice, who “died last year her grave is shapen/Like a snowball, in the rime.” But, they continue, “If you listen by that grave, in sun and shower,/With your ear down, little Alice never cries;/Could we see her face, be sure we should not know her,/For the smile has time for growing in her eyes.” The implication is made explicit in the devastating final couplet: “It is good when it happens," say the children,/"That we die before our time !"”
In the following stanza, the poet, deeply moved by this sentiment — the stanza begins simply “Alas, the wretched children!” — implores them to flee their drudgery into nature’s healing bosom: “Go out, children, from the mine and from the city —/Sing out, children, as the little thrushes do —/Pluck you handfuls of the meadow-cowslips pretty/Laugh aloud, to feel your fingers let them through!” Note the association of the city, the heart of industry, with the mines, and the contrast of both of them with the pastoral idyll.
The children, however, burned out and jaded well beyond their years, are having none of this, replying:

" Are your cowslips of the meadows
Like our weeds anear the mine ?
Leave us quiet in the dark of the coal-shadows,
From your pleasures fair and fine!
"For oh," say the children, "we are weary,
And we cannot run or leap —
If we cared for any meadows, it were merely
To drop down in them and sleep.
Our knees tremble sorely in the stooping —
We fall upon our faces, trying to go ;
And, underneath our heavy eyelids drooping,
The reddest flower would look as pale as snow.
For, all day, we drag our burden tiring,
Through the coal-dark, underground —
Or, all day, we drive the wheels of iron
In the factories, round and round.
"For all day, the wheels are droning, turning, —
Their wind comes in our faces, —
Till our hearts turn, — our heads, with pulses burning,
And the walls turn in their places
Turns the sky in the high window blank and reeling —
Turns the long light that droppeth down the wall, —
Turn the black flies that crawl along the ceiling —
All are turning, all the day, and we with all ! —
And all day, the iron wheels are droning ;
And sometimes we could pray,
'O ye wheels,' (breaking out in a mad moaning)
'Stop ! be silent for to-day ! ' "

Apologies for the lengthy quote but I find this stretch of the poem deeply moving, and fascinating. As Browning moves from describing nature to describing the mines and factories, her her diction becomes less typically Romantic, giving way to harder, more guttural language. It’s like transitioning from a Wes Anderson flick to Eraserhead. The repetition of words and phrases emphasizes the soul-crushing tedium of the 14+ hour workday (to say nothing of the body-crushing aspects). Reading, we can almost feel the walls closing in, as though we’re the ones digging in the dark underground or crawling into a dangerous machine to make a repair.
The rest of the poem largely deals with how the children have lost their religion, feeling abandoned by God; here I think it’s important to put aside our personal modern view of the matter and think how shocking this would be to the Victorian audience, and how much it clearly pained Browning, a devoutly spiritual woman. Despite her faith, Browning does not blame or judge the children for their lack of it. Instead, she criticizes those who preach a sort of proto-prosperity gospel — “And they tell us, of His image is the masteWho commands us to work on./Go to!" say the children,—"up in Heaven,/Dark, wheel-like, turning clouds are all we find!” — and, most pointedly, everyone who is complicit, directly or indirectly, in the children’s suffering: “Do ye hear the children weeping and disproving,/O my brothers, what ye preach?/For God's possible is taught by His world's loving —/And the children doubt of each.”

Theodore Roethke is such an archetypal instantiation of the “troubled genius” that if some writer had come up with him, they’d be excoriated for creating such an overwrought stereotype. He struggled with bipolar disorder throughout his life, his breakdowns increasing in frequency and severity as he grew older. He was an aloof, bookish child; when, at 14, he lost his father to cancer and his uncle to suicide, it only exacerbated the abandonment issues and low self-esteem that had already been plaguing him. In college, he very self-consciously cultivated the imagine of an eccentric, non-conformist tough guy (aided, no doubt by his tall, 225-pound frame). His fascination with nature - he grew up on his father’s 25-acre greenhouse - and his feelings of isolation make it no surprise he was drawn to poetry. He did enter law school after completing his undergraduate degree, but dropped out almost immediately to pursue teaching and writing, saying “I didn’t wish to become a defender of property or a corporation lawyer as all my cousins on one side of the family had done.”
Unlike many of his contemporaries, Roethke frequently wrote in formal verse structures; he believed, in the words of one of his great influences T.S. Eliot, that “the only way to manipulate any kind of English verse, [is] by assimilation and imitation.” Roethke went even further than Eliot, writing, “imitation, conscious imitation, is one of the great methods, perhaps the method of learning to write. ... The final triumph is what the language does, not what the poet can do, or display.” The critic summarized Roethke’s aesthetic mission thusly: “The modern poet should move away from the Romantic concept of personal expression. ... He must, in effect, march through the history of poetry—rewrite the poems of the past—that he may come out at the end of his journey a poet who has absorbed the tradition and who thus may take one step forward and add to that tradition.”
If imitation can make it easier to get words on the page, it’s by no means a guarantee those words will be any good; it can easily become a crutch, or result in mere inferior copies that bring nothing new, original, or striking. Roethke easily eluded these pitfall. Instead, the structure of the past allowed him the freedom to delve ever deeper into his subject matter. Many critics and biographers believe his bipolar disorder, while undoubtedly causing him much suffering, also aided him in producing poems that fearlessly explore the nature of the self.
Today’s poem, “The Waking,” brilliantly exemplifies all of these tendencies. It’s written as a villanelle, one of the most complex and rigidly structured verse forms, and one that as such had become particularly unfashionable in the 20th century. It consists of five tercets and a closing quatrain in the form A1bA2 abA1 abA2 abA1 abA2 abA1A2 (where the A and a rhymes line and A1 and A2 represent the refrains that are repeated identically). This form evolved over time from its origins as a ballad-style song. The word villanelle comes from the Italian villanella, a rustic song and/or dance, which itself comes from the word villano, meaning peasant, serf, or farmhand.
As such it’s a form perfectly suited to Roethke, a farmer’s son who penned the line “motion is equal to emotion” and once exclaimed to his students, “You’ve got to have rhythm. If you want to dance naked in an open barndoor with a chalk in your navel, I don’t care! You’ve got to have rhythm.” We see these sentiments echoed in “The Waking.” After the paradoxical opening line which will become the first refrain - “I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow” - Roethke writes:

I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.
We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.

These lines are filled with active, embodied verbs: fate is felt, learning is done by going, thinking by feeling; being is a sound that dances. The first two lines deal with fate - specifically the one we all share, death (playing on the age-old metaphor of death as sleep) - which Roethke feels “in what [he] cannot fear.” The cannot is ambiguous - does he mean that he’s unable to fear, or that he is compelled not to? The second line - in which he learns by going where he has to (i.e., is fated to) go - suggests it’s the former. Death is unknowable, so how can we fear it? We’re going to learn it’s mysteries whether we want to or not (sorry, transhumanismcels). Even then, as the next line asks us, “What is there to know?” Better to focus on feeling and being. Note also the strong iambic pentameter of the lines, which carries throughout the poem, lending it a strong rhythm that allows to hear and feel the poem, not just read it.
The third stanza opens with the apostrophe) “Of those so close beside me, which are you?” Traditionally this literary device was used to address gods, muses, things of that nature, but here Roethke seems to be addressing the reader directly, drawing us into the poem and creating a sense of intimacy and urgency as he asks us if we are awake or sleeping, alive or dead. It’s a call to action, to choose life and be present in it, just like those he issued to his students. He leads by example in the next lines: “God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,/And learn by going where I have to go.” Here the second refrain’s meaning is inverted; Roethke is not going into death, but into life.
Specifically, he’s going into nature, to which he turns his attention for the next several lines:

Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me; so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.

The capitalization of the normally common nouns light, tree, nature, and ground in the previous stanza, shows Roethke’s Romantic influence. And like the Romantics, Roethke views Nature as transcendent - of course thre tree bathing in light is, but even the lowly worm is able to ascend, learning by going where he has to go, however slowly. The second stanza quoted heightens the intimacy of the poem, “you and me” joining us to the poet, who addresses the reader as “lovely.” There is almost a lower-case-romantic vibe being established.
Finally we come to the concluding quatrain, which opens with one of the poem’s most puzzling lines: “This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.” Critics have taken the shaking to refer to things as varied as Roethke’s mental health, love, aging, and fear. Perhaps it refers to all of them, a single word capturing a vast swath of the human experience. But I think the most plausible candidate is fear, especially if you imagine an implied “better” at the end of the next sentence. This would also link it to the next two lines: “What falls away is always. And is near.” Though loss and death are part of life, the people and things we lose can be immortalized by the imagination - being dancing from ear to ear. Furthermore, the emphasis on nature in the previous stanzas reminds us that birth and renewal are just as much a part of existence as death and loss. Indeed, if we wake to sleep, we also go to sleep so we can wake feeling renewed and refreshed.

Today we’re going to continue the theme of the past few days, looking at Rainer Maria Rilke’s (originally named Rene, he changed it to Rainer at the behest of his married lover Lou Andreas-Salomé - famous friendzoner of Nietzsche and student of Freud - who thought Rainer sounded more masculine, strong, and Germanic; probably a good call not to have two women’s names, especially since he spent his childhood, sort of like Mishima, being treated as and dressed like a girl by his mother) ekphrastic (and, like much of Rilke’s verse, ecstatic) “Archaic Torso of Apollo.”
In addition to being an ekphrasis, this poem is also an example of a Dinggedicht (literally “thing poem,” the Germans really have a knack for this stuff). This form developed in the latter half of the 19th-century in the German-speaking world as poets attempted to describe an object (often, especially at first, as in this case, a work of art, but eventually poets turned their attention to everyday objects, and even animate “objects,” as in Rilke’s “The Panther”) with language specific to the object in question. In a sense, the goal is to let the object of the poem “speak for itself,” or at least to capture its essence.
It’s not surprising that Rilke is considered the master of the Dinggedicht. Although he is a modernist poet (like many of his contemporaries, he was especially influenced by the modernist movements taking place in the visual arts), he still has much of the Romantics in him, writing transcendent, often mystical poems about love, loss, religion and art. He’s equally versed in the classical and Biblical traditions, deftly deploying imagery from both (especially angels, whom he frequently described as “terrifying” well before it was an annoying redditcore meme).
As with Yeats, that other great bridge between Romanticism and modernism, there is a sharp contrast between Rilke’s early and mature works. “Archaic Torso of Apollo” is an early example of the latter, coming from the aptly named collection New Poems, which Rilke dedicated to Rodin. In 1902, Rilke traveled to Paris to write a monograph on the sculptor; he ended up working as his secretary, which changed the course of his literary career. Mark Doty says in an interview that Rodin’s “very fleshy, highly physicalized forms were enormously attractive to [Rilke]. He wanted to write poems with the same kind of muscularity and physical presence as Rodin's sculptures. Rodin gave him all these assignments. Go to the zoo and look, go to the Louvre, choose something, and talk about it.”
The homework paid off, helping Rilke move from the subjective, incantatory poetry he had been writing and growing increasingly dissatisfied with, to the more sensate, objective verse of his mature years. This stylistic shift is exemplified in “Archaic Torso of Apollo,” inspired by the Miletus torso (or simply “Male Torso” as it’s listed by the Louvre, where Rilke saw it and where it still resides today), an incomplete but striking sculpture of Parian marble (a particularly high quality marble prized by the classical Greeks and used for some of their most renowned sculptures, including the Medici Venus, the Nike of Samothrace, and the Venus de Milo; it was also used in the construction of the Parthenon and Napoleon’s tomb).
Obviously, as Rilke says to open the poem, “We cannot know his legendary head,” because it’s not there. Interestingly, this doesn’t stop Rilke from describing his “eyes like ripening fruit”; nor does it stop him from identifying the naked, decapitated torso as belonging to Apollo. It’s unsurprising that Rilke would be drawn to the Olympian god of, among other things, truth, oracles, prophecy, music, and poetry. Apollo is also associated with the sun and light, which explains the motif running through the poem starting immediately after the striking simile of “eyes like ripening fruit.” Rilke writes that the torso “is still suffused with brilliance from inside,/like a lamp, in which his gaze, now turned to low,/gleams in all its power.” Even without a head, the sculpture’s gaze is still palpable. A proper Dinggedicht, this poem gets to the inner core of the statue, diminished in form but not in essence. And thank goodness, because

Otherwise
the curved breast could not dazzle you so, nor could
a smile run through the placid hips and thighs
to that dark center where procreation flared.

Where genitals are typically associated with vitality, with life and therefore light, here they are dim in comparison to Apollo’s inner light. Rilke continues:

Otherwise this stone would seem defaced beneath the translucent cascade of the shoulders and would not glisten like a wild beast's fur:
would not, from all the borders of itself,
burst like a star

It’s interesting that aside from a few lines describing the statue’s light at the beginning, the rest of the poem is framed as a negative hypothetical of what would be lacking if Apollo’s light didn’t survive decapitation (as well as describing the absent head). Rilke was a Catholic, but not a practicing one - he struggled with his faith (or lack thereof) throughout his life. It seems very deliberate, then, that he chooses to view this disfigured sculpture as a pre-Christian deity. The poem has a very prayer-like quality to it, describing the torso reverently in a tone of awe. Perhaps Rilke wishes he’d been born in a time when he could have worshiped the God of Light and Poetry rather than the more distant God of Catholicism; perhaps he sees his own faith in the statue, something that can’t be made whole no matter how much he wishes for it to be, but which still has a sort of beauty in it nonetheless.
The irreversibility of the statue’s incompleteness, however, doesn’t stop Rilke from trying, in his way, to make it whole. Though it’s easy to overlook while under the spell of Rilke’s powerful imagery (especially in English; translators struggle to maintain the rhyme scheme without sacrificing something in diction), the poem is a sonnet, specifically of the Petrarchan sonnets are divided into an octave and a sestet (here subdivided into two quatrains and two triplets). Sonnets are one of the oldest traditional verse forms, and they traditionally come to a resolution - in other words, they are by nature a complete whole. By choosing to write about the torso in sonnet form, Rilke attempts to restore its wholeness.
Beyond the rules for structure, meter, and rhyme, though, sonnets have rules for content. Traditionally they introduce an argument of some sort in the octave, before a turning point or reconsideration in the sestet. And this poem takes an unbelievably sharp turn, concluding with a devastatingly arresting gesture: “for here there is no place/that does not see you. You must change your life.” Is Rilke speaking to the reader? To the statue? To himself? This is definitely a case like Eliot spoke of (“I know that some of the poetry to which I am most devoted is poetry which I did not understand at first reading; some is poetry which I am not sure I understand yet”), because no matter how many times I read this poem, I’m caught off guard by these final lines, and have yet to come up with a satisfactorily definitive answer. But that in no way diminishes the poem’s affect or the startling effect it has on me.

So, this madness around ChatGPT is still all around us, and I felt like this has to be said. So many students are using it without any critical thinking.
No matter if it's GPT-4 or 3.5, OpenAi programmed it in a way that if it doesn't know the answer to lie and make up stuff most of the time. It is primarily designed to sound and feel like a human, not to be correct - as OpenAi said it themselves. So no, you can't use it as a "Google search on steroids" if you already don't know the answer.
It can't even write stories correctly for academic purposes. For example, my sister asked ChatGPT to write her a sonnet. It did write an amazing poem, but it wasn't the sonnet as it didn't have 2 quatrains and 2 tercets. So you have to know what the sonnet is in the first place to spot an error. And this is just a banal example.
I'm a medschool student and I asked it to give me the solution for a simple chemistry question for MCAT. It got it wrong, but oh boy it was so convincing.
It can be useful for numerous things (creative ideas, translating, writing etc. to save you precious time). But please don't use it if you already don't know everything about the subject in question.
As a med student I'm writing a blog, its my personal hobby project and I mostly write about medical stuff. But all this media and news madness how it's perfect tool for students - no, it is not and this needs to be said. So I wrote a blog post about ChatGPT which applies to everyone who is using it.
If you want more in-depth insight about the ChatGPT background and how it can be dangerous to academy, take a look at this text. Hopefully it will help you understand what ChatGPT is and how it operates, and also how to use it correctly.
Edit because some users didn't get my point:
I'm not against ChatGPT or AI in general. I believe it is very useful tool which will become more and more useful with each update. Me personally, I use it on a daily basis.
What I'm saying here is that most of the general population has only seen the shiny miraculous news about ChatGPT and how it can magically solve any problem of yours. It can't, especially if you don't know how to use it, and if you trust it without knowing the subject you're using it upon, it can even be dangerous.
Imagine a scientist relying on ChatGPT. Or regular user who in old Goolge days googled tumors and other diseases and misdiagnosed themselves. Now with ChatGPT which is praised as super intelligent Google on steroids, it's even more dangerous for the general population who only see those shiny news abut all-knowing AI pal.

First of all, to avoid any possible misunderstanding, we should state that this was, strictly speaking, a sally to no-where. In fact, Trurl never left his house throughout it— except for a few trips to the hospital and an unimportant excursion to some asteroid. Yet in a deeper and/or higher sense this was one of the farthest sallies ever undertaken by the famed constructor, for it very nearly took him beyond the realm of possibility.
Trurl had once had the misfortune to build an enormous calculating machine that was capable of only one operation, namely the addition of two and two, and that it did incor-rectly. As is related earlier in this volume, the machine also proved to be extremely stubborn, and the quarrel that en-sued between it and its creator almost cost the latter his life. From that time on Klapaucius teased Trurl unmerci-fully, making comments at every opportunity, until Trurl decided to silence him once and for all by building a ma-chine that could write poetry. First Trurl collected eight hundred and twenty tons of books on cybernetics and twelve thousand tons of the finest poetry, then sat down to read it all. Whenever he felt he just couldn't take another chart or equation, he would switch over to verse, and vice versa. After a while it became clear to him that the con-struction of the machine itself was child's play in compari-son with the writing of the program. The program found in the head of an average poet, after all, was written by the poet's civilization, and that civilization was in turn pro-grammed by the civilization that preceded it, and so on to the very Dawn of Time, when those bits of information that concerned the poet-to-be were still swirling about in the primordial chaos of the cosmic deep. Hence in order to program a poetry machine, one would first have to repeat the entire Universe from the beginning—or at least a good piece of it.
Anyone else in Trurl's place would have given up then and there, but our intrepid constructor was nothing daunted. He built a machine and fashioned a digital model of the Void, an Electrostatic Spirit to move upon the face of the electrolytic waters, and he introduced the parameter of light, a protogalactic cloud or two, and by degrees worked his way up to the first ice age—Trurl could move at this rate because his machine was able, in one five-billionth of a second, to simulate one hundred septillion events at forty octillion different locations simultaneously. And if anyone questions these figures, let him work it out for himself.
Next Trurl began to model Civilization, the striking of fires with flints and the tanning of hides, and he provided for dinosaurs and floods, bipedality and taillessness, then made the paleopaleface (Albuminidis sapienria), which be-gat the paleface, which begat the gadget, and so it went, from eon to millennium, in the endless hum of electrical currents and eddies. Often the machine turned out to be too small for the computer simulation of a new epoch, and Trurl would have to tack on an auxiliary unit—until he ended up, at last, with a veritable metropolis of tubes and terminals, circuits and shunts, all so tangled and involved that the devil himself couldn't have made head or tail of it. But Trurl managed somehow, he only had to go back twice —once, almost to the beginning, when he discovered that Abel had murdered Cain and not Cain Abel (the result, apparently, of a defective fuse), and once, only three hun-dred million years back to the middle of the Mesozoic, when after going from fish to amphibian to reptile to mam-mal, something odd took place among the primates and instead of great apes he came out with gray drapes. A fly, it seems, had gotten into the machine and shorted out the polyphase step-down directional widget. Otherwise every-thing went like a dream. Antiquity and the Middle Ages were recreated, then the period of revolutions and reforms —which gave the machine a few nasty jolts—and then civilization progressed in such leaps and bounds that Trurl had to hose down the coils and cores repeatedly to keep them from overheating.
Towards the end of the twentieth century the machine began to tremble, first sideways, then lengthwise-—for no apparent reason. This alarmed Trurl; he brought out cement and grappling irons just in case. But fortunately these weren't needed; instead of jumping its moorings, the ma-chine settled down and soon had left the twentieth century far behind. Civilizations came and went thereafter in fifty-thousand-year intervals: these were the fully intelligent be-ings from whom Trurl himself stemmed. Spool upon spool of computerized history was filled and ejected into storage bins; soon there were so many spools, that even if you stood at the top of the machine with high-power binoculars, you wouldn't see the end of them. And all to construct some versifier! But then, such is the way of scientific fanaticism. At last the programs were ready; all that remained was to pick out the most applicable—else the electropoet's educa-tion would take several million years at the very least.
During the next two weeks Trurl fed general instructions into his future electropoet, then set up all the necessary logic circuits, emotive elements, semantic centers. He was about to invite Klapaucius to attend a trial run, but thought better of it and started the machine himself. It immediately proceeded to deliver a lecture on the grinding of crystallo-graphical surfaces as an introduction to the study of sub-molecular magnetic anomalies. Trurl bypassed half the logic circuits and made the emotive more electromotive; the ma-chine sobbed, went into hysterics, then finally said, blub-bering terribly, what a cruel, cruel world this was. Trurl in-tensified the semantic fields and attached a strength of char-acter component; the machine informed him that from now on he would carry out its every wish and to begin with add six floors to the nine it already had, so it could better medi-tate upon the meaning of existence. Trurl installed a philo-sophical throttle instead; the machine fell silent and sulked. Only after endless pleading and cajoling was he able to get it to recite something: "I had a little froggy." That appeared to exhaust its repertoire. Trurl adjusted, modulated, expostulated, disconnected, ran checks, reconnected, reset, did everything he could think of, and the machine presented him with a poem that made him thank heaven Klapaucius wasn't there to laugh—imagine, simulating the whole Uni-verse from scratch, not to mention Civilization in every particular, and to end up with such dreadful doggerel! Trurl put in six cliche filters, but they snapped like matches; he had to make them out of pure corundum steel. This seemed to work, so he jacked the semanticity up all the way, plugged in an alternating rhyme generator—which nearly ruined everything, since the machine resolved to become a missionary among destitute tribes on far-flung planets. But at the very last minute, just as he was ready to give up and take a hammer to it, Trurl was struck by an inspiration; tossing out all the logic circuits, he replaced them with self-regulating egocentripetal narcissistors. The machine simpered a little, whimpered a little, laughed bitterly, complained of an awful pain on its third floor, said that in general it was fed up, through, life was beautiful but men were such beasts and how sorry they'd all be when it was dead and gone. Then it asked for pen and paper. Trurl sighed with relief, switched it off and went to bed. The next morn-ing he went to see Klapaucius. Klapaucius, hearing that he was invited to attend the debut of Trurl's electronic bard, dropped everything and followed—so eager was he to be an eyewitness to his friend's humiliation.

Trurl let the machine warm up first, kept the power low, ran up the metal stairs several times to take readings (the machine was like the engine of a giant steamer, galleried, with rows of rivets, dials and valves on every tier)—till finally, satisfied all the decimal places were where they ought to be, he said yes, it was ready now, and why not start with something simple. Later, of course, when the machine had gotten the feel of it, Klapaucius could ask it to produce poetry on absolutely whatever topic he liked.
Now the potentiometers indicated the machine's lyrical capacitance was charged to maximum, and Trurl, so nervous his hands were shaking, threw the master switch. A voice, slightly husky but remarkably vibrant and bewitching, said:

"Phlogisticosh. Rhomothriglyph. Floof."

"Is that it?" inquired Klapaucius after a pause, extremely polite. Trurl only bit his lip, gave the machine a few kicks of current, and tried again. This time the voice came through much more clearly; it was a thrilling baritone, sol-emn yet intriguingly sensual:

Pev't o' tay merlong gumin gots,
Untie yun furly pazzen ye,
Confre an' ayzor, ayzor ots,
Bither de furloss bochre blee!

"Am I missing something?" said Klapaucius, calmly watching a panic-stricken Trurl struggling at the controls.
Finally Trurl waved his arms in despair, dashed clattering several flights up the metal stairs, got down on all fours and crawled into the machine through a trapdoor; he ham-mered away inside, swearing like a maniac, tightened some-thing, pried at something, crawled out again and ran franti-cally to another tier. At long last he let out a cry of triumph, threw a burnt tube over his shoulder—it bounced off the railing and fell to the floor, shattering at the feet of Klapau-cius. But Trurl didn't bother to apologize; he quickly put in a new tube, wiped his hands on a chammy cloth and hollered down for Klapaucius to try it now. The following words rang out:

Mockles! Fent on silpen tree,
Blockards three a-feening,
Mockles, what silps came to thee
In thy pantry dreaming?

"Well, that's an improvement!" shouted Trurl, not en-tirely convinced. "The last line particularly, did you notice?"
"If this is all you have to show me…" said Klapaucius, the very soul of politeness.
""Damn!" said Trurl and again disappeared inside the ma-chine. There was a fierce banging and clanging, the sputter-ing of shorted wires and the muttering of an even shorter temper, then Trurl stuck his head out of a trapdoor on the third story and yelled, "Now try it!"
Klaupaucius complied. The electronic bard shuddered from stem to stern and began:

Oft, in that wickless chalet all begorn,
Where whilom soughed the mossy sappertort
And you were wont to bong—

Trurl yanked out a few cables in a fury, something rattled and wheezed, the machine fell silent. Klapaucius laughed so hard he had to sit on the floor. Then suddenly, as Trurl was rushing back and forth, there was a crackle, a clack, and the machine with perfect poise said:

The Petty and the Small;
Are overcome with gall ;
When Genius, having faltered, fails to fall.
Klapaucius too, I ween,
Will turn the deepest green
To hear such flawless verse from Trurl's machine.

"There you are, an epigram! And wonderfully apropos!" laughed Trurl, racing down the metal stairs and flinging himself delightedly into his colleague's arms. Klapaucius, quite taken aback, was no longer laughing.
"What, that?" he said. "That's nothing. Besides, you had it all set up beforehand."
"Setup?!"
"Oh, it's quite obvious… the ill-disguised hostility, the poverty of thought, the crudeness of execution."
"All right, then ask it something else! Whatever you like! Go on! What are you waiting for? Afraid?!"
"Just a minute," said Klapaucius, annoyed. He was try-ing to think of a request as difficult as possible, aware that any argument on the quality of the verse the machine might be able to produce would be hard if not impossible to settle either way. Suddenly he brightened and said:
"Have it compose a poem—a poem about a haircut! But lofty, noble, tragic, timeless, full of love, treachery, retribu-tion, quiet heroism in the face of certain doom! Six lines, cleverly rhymed, and every word beginning with the letter s!!"
"And why not throw in a full exposition of the general theory of nonlinear automata while you're at it?" growled Trurl. "You can't give it such idiotic—"
But he didn't finish. A melodious voice filled the hall with the following:

Seduced, shaggy Samson snored.
She scissored short. Sorely shorn,
Soon shackled slave, Samson sighed,
Silently scheming,
Sightlessly seeking
Some savage, spectacular suicide.

"Well, what do you say to that?" asked Trurl, his arms folded proudly. But Klapaucius was already shouting:
"Now all in g! A sonnet, trochaic hexameter, about an old cyclotron who kept sixteen artificial mistresses, blue and radioactive, had four wings, three purple pavilions, two lacquered chests, each containing exactly one thousand medallions bearing the likeness of Czar Murdicog the Head-less…"
"Grinding gleeful gears, Gerontogyron grabbed / Giggling gynecobalt-6o golems," began the machine, but Trurl leaped to the console, shut off the power and turned, defending the machine with his body.
"Enough!" he said, hoarse with indignation. "How dare you waste a great talent on such drivel? Either give it decent poems to write or I call the whole thing off!"
"What, those aren't decent poems?" protested Klapaucius.
"Certainly not! I didn't build a machine to solve ridicu-lous crossword puzzles! That's hack work, not Great Art! Just give it a topic, any topic, as difficult as you like…"
Klapaucius thought, and thought some more. Finally he nodded and said:
"Very well. Let's have a love poem, lyrical, pastoral, and expressed in the language of pure mathematics. Tensor alge-bra mainly, with a little topology and higher calculus, if need be. But with feeling, you understand, and in the cyber-netic spirit."
"Love and tensor algebra? Have you taken leave of your senses?" Trurl began, but stopped, for his electronic bard was already declaiming:

Come, let us hasten to a higher plane,
Where dyads tread the fairy fields of Venn,
Their indices bedecked from one to n,
Commingled in an endless Markov chain!

Come, every frustum longs to be a cone,
And every vector dreams of matrices.
Hark to the gentle gradient of the breeze:
It whispers of a more ergodic zone.

In Riemann, Hilbert or in Banach space
Let superscripts and subscripts go their ways
Our asymptotes no longer out of phase,
We shall encounter, counting, face to face.

I'll grant thee random access to my heart,
Thou'lt tell me all the constants of thy love;
And so we two shall all love's lemmas prove,
And in our bound partition never part.

For what did Cauchy know, or Christoffel,
Or Fourier, or any Boole or Euler,
Wielding their compasses, their pens and rulers,
Of thy supernal sinusoidal spell?

Cancel me not—for what then shall remain?
Abscissas, some mantissas, modules, modes,
A root or two, a torus and a node:
The inverse of my verse, a null domain.

Ellipse of bliss, converge, O lips divine!
The product of our scalars is defined!
Cyberiad draws nigh, and the skew mind
Cuts capers like a happy haversine

I see the eigenvalue in thine eye,
I hear the tender tensor in thy sigh.
Bernoulli would have been content to die,
Had he but known such a² cos 2 Ø!

This concluded the poetic competition, since Klapaucius suddenly had to leave, saying he would return shortly with more topics for the machine; but he never did, afraid that in so doing, he might give Trurl more cause to boast. Trurl of course let it be known that Klapaucius had fled in order to hide his envy and chagrin. Klapaucius meanwhile spread the word that Trurl had more than one screw loose on the subject of that so-called mechanical versifier.
Not much time went by before news of Trurl's computer laureate reached the genuine—-that is, the ordinary—poets. Deeply offended, they resolved to ignore the machine's existence. A few, however, were curious enough to visit Trurl's electronic bard in secret. It received them courte-ously, in a hall piled high with closely written paper (for it worked day and night without pause). Now these poets were all avant-garde, and Trurl's machine wrote only in the traditional manner; Trurl, no connoisseur of poetry, had relied heavily on the classics in setting up its program. The machine's guests jeered and left in triumph. The machine was self-programming, however, and in addition had a special ambition-amplifying mechanism with glory-seeking circuits, and very soon a great change took place. Its poems became difficult, ambiguous, so intricate and charged with meaning that they were totally incomprehensible. When the next group of poets came to mock and laugh, the machine replied with an improvisation that was so modern, it took their breath away, and the second poem seriously weakened a certain sonneteer who had two State awards to his name, not to mention a statue in the city park. After that, no poet could resist the fatal urge to cross lyrical swords with Trurl's electronic bard. They came from far and wide, carrying trunks and suitcases full of manuscripts. The machine would let each challenger recite, instantly grasp the algo-rithm of his verse, and use it to compose an answer in exactly the same style, only two hundred and twenty to three hundred and forty-seven times better.
The machine quickly grew so adept at this, that it could cut down a first-class rhapsodist with no more than one or two quatrains. But the worst of it was, all the third-rate poets emerged unscathed; being third-rate, they didn't know good poetry from bad and consequently had no inkling of their crushing defeat. One of them, true, broke his leg when, on the way out, he tripped over an epic poem the machine had just completed, a prodigious work beginning with the words:

Arms, and machines I sing, that, forc'd by fate,
And haughty Homo's unrelenting hate,
Expell'd and exil'd, left the Terran shore …

The true poets, on the other hand, were decimated by Trurl's electronic bard, though it never laid a finger on them. First an aged elegiast, then two modernists committed sui-cide, leaping off a cliff that unfortunately happened to lie hard by the road leading from Trurl's place to the nearest train station.
There were many poet protests staged, demonstrations, demands that the machine be served an injunction to cease and desist. But no one else appeared to care. In fact, maga-zine editors generally approved: Trurl's electronic bard, writing under several thousand different pseudonyms at once, had a poem for every occasion, to fit whatever length might be required, and of such high quality that the magazine would be torn from hand to hand by eager readers. On the street one could see enraptured faces, bemused smiles, some-times even hear a quiet sob. Everyone knew the poems of Trurl's electronic bard, the air rang with its delightful rhymes. Not infrequently, those citizens of a greater sensi-tivity, struck by a particularly marvelous metaphor or as-sonance, would actually fall into a faint. But this colossus of inspiration was prepared even for that eventuality; it would immediately supply the necessary number of restorative rondelets.
Trurl himself had no little trouble in connection with his invention. The classicists, generally elderly, were fairly harm-less; they confined themselves to throwing stones through his windows and smearing the sides of his house with an unmentionable substance. But it was much worse with the younger poets. One, for example, as powerful in body as his verse was in imagery, beat Trurl to a pulp. And while the constructor lay in the hospital, events marched on. Not a day passed without a suicide or a funeral; picket lines formed around the hospital; one could hear gunfire in the distance —instead of manuscripts in their suitcases, more and more poets were bringing rifles to defeat Trurl's electronic bard. But the bullets merely bounced off its calm exterior. After his return from the hospital, Trurl, weak and desperate, finally decided one night to dismantle the homeostatic Homer he had created.
But when he approached the machine, limping slightly, it noticed the pliers in his hand and the grim glitter in his eye, and delivered such an eloquent, impassioned plea for mercy, that the constructor burst into tears, threw down his tools and hurried back to his room, wading through new works of genius, an ocean of paper that filled the hall chest-high from end to end and rustled incessantly.
The following month Trurl received a bill for the elec-tricity consumed by the machine and almost fell off his chair. If only he could have consulted his old friend Klapaucius! But Klapaucius was nowhere to be found. So Trurl had to come up with something by himself. One dark night he unplugged the machine, took it apart, loaded it onto a ship, flew to a certain small asteroid, and there assembled it again, giving it an atomic pile for its source of creative energy.
Then he sneaked home. But that wasn't the end of it. The electronic bard, deprived now of the possibility of hav-ing its masterpieces published, began to broadcast them on all wave lengths, which soon sent the passengers and crews of passing rockets into states of stanzaic stupefaction, and those more delicate souls were seized with severe attacks of esthetic ecstasy besides. Having determined the cause of this disturbance, the Cosmic Fleet Command issued Trurl an official request for the immediate termination of his device, which was seriously impairing the health and well-being of all travelers.
At that point Trurl went into hiding, so they dropped a team of technicians on the asteroid to gag the machine's output unit. It overwhelmed them with a few ballads, how-ever, and the mission had to be abandoned. Deaf techni-cians were sent next, but the machine employed panto-mime. After that, there began to be talk of an eventual puni-tive expedition, of bombing the electropoet into submission. But just then some ruler from a neighboring star system came, bought the machine and hauled it off, asteroid and all, to his kingdom.
Now Trurl could appear in public again and breathe easy. True, lately there had been supernovae exploding on the southern horizon, the like of which no one had ever seen before, and there were rumors that this had something to do with poetry. According to one report, that same ruler, moved by some strange whim, had ordered his astroengineers to connect the electronic bard to a constellation of white supergiants, thereby transforming each line of verse into a stupendous solar prominence; thus the Greatest Poet in the Universe was able to transmit its thermonuclear crea-tions to all the illimitable reaches of space at once. But even if there were any truth to this, it was all too far away to bother Trurl, who vowed by everything that was ever held sacred never, never again to make a cybernetic model of the Muse.

v Themes: The main theme of ‘Glory of Women‘ is the patriotic jingoism popularised by writers such as Jessie Pope in news articles and poems such as “Who’s For The Game?” that encouraged countless young men to lose their lives in a horrifying and ultimately useless war. As a soldier himself, Sassoon knew only too well how lofty ideals like heroism and glory meant nothing on the battlefield and were not worth fighting for. Despite not being soldiers, women played an integral role in WW1 by persuading men to join the war and more insidiously, demonizing men who were reluctant to fight. Sassoon also highlights the lack of compassion shown to men who survived and exposes the hypocrisy of women who goaded men into war and failed to care for them when they returned.
v Tone: Particularly in “Glory of Women” Sassoon described his anger towards the absence of mercy from women during WW1. In a sense, the poem portrays women as patriotic, but also ignorant. Throughout the poem, Sassoon uses a sarcastic tone, first demonstrating it through the use of the word “glory” in the title.
v Literary Devices: Siegfried Sasson's poem, "Glory of Women" is ironic in a sense because as you read the title, you think it will be a prideful and honorable view on the war and it clearly is not as you begin to read. It criticizes how women act, view, and serve the war effort. It has fourteen lines, so you also get a sense that it will have a loving side to it, but again as you read, it has nothing to do with love. He uses sarcasm as he makes the reader think it is a sonnet. His poem also has two quatrains (octet) and a sestet, which creates some sort of irony since it is a sonnet. The themes are bitteromantic/dangerous with lots of irony. In the octet he focuses on women's admiration for their soldier sweethearts, while in the last half, the sestet, he focuses on his bitterness over the fact that their admiration is conditional and doesn't have anything to do with defeated soldiers. It compares how the women show their love more for their soldiers when they come home, rather than when they're fighting. The second half explains his views are wrong because women don't care if they are defeated or not, they still love them conditionally. The women in this poem see the war as romantic and full of danger when, in reality, it is full of "trampling corpses," "horror," and "blood." (Sasson's perspective) The poem has a shift in line 8 whenever it switches from romance to horror. The reader notices this shift because the diction in the beginning is happy: "believe," "delight," "thrilled," "heroes," while in the rest of the poem it is condescending: "trampling the terrible corpses," "blind with blood," "fire," "trodden in the mud." Sasson uses literary devices to describe his view on "Glory of Women" such as allusion, alliteration, and imagery. In line 4, he uses "chivalry" to create the allusion of the British instead of German, with chivalry meaning the Arthurian legend. Lines 6 and 8 he uses alliteration, "by tales of dirt and danger" and "mourn our laurelled memories" to show the experience that being in the war is worth it because of all the memories; even though there will be some tough times. Lastly, he uses imagery in the last three lines by illustrating that not just British women do not face the struggle of war; the German women sit at home knitting socks for their men while they too die horribly in the war. Overall, women exaggerate the fact of what they do in their life, while men are out there dying in the mud. Sasson shows his true perspective of "Women's Glory" in those last three lines by describing how women only show glory when their men are home and like to focus more on themselves when they are out there fighting. Sassoon uses several literary devices in ‘Glory of Women.’ These are:
· Irony: occurs when the language used is intended to have the opposite effect. For example, the “glory” in the poem is nothing of the sort.
· Alliteration: occurs when a sound is repeated, for example, “blind with blood” or “Hell’s last horror.” Here, Sassoon mimics the jingoistic slogans and writing that encouraged men to enlist despite the unimaginable experiences that awaited them.
· Iambic pentameter: These are pairs of unstressed/stressed syllables. Here, they convey a sense of violence and relentless brutality to the poem, particularly in the devastating final lines: “His face is trodden deeper in the mud.”
v Structure and Form: Sassoon uses two forms of structure, the sonnet form, and direct address, to challenge us. Sonnets are usually love poems addressed to the object of the speaker’s affection. Other war poets, such as Rupert Brooke, also used the sonnet to convey their love for their country and to praise the bravery of other soldiers. Sassoon’s sonnet speaks directly to women, too, but not to declare love. Instead, he subverts the sonnet form to demonstrate that what women might see as love for soldiers and their country is actually deeply destructive and damages the people it is supposed to help. Apart from the subject matter being deliberately at odds with the form chosen, the poem follows all the conventions of a sonnet with its octet and sestet and insistent iambic pentameter. The direct address is vicious at first, but at the end of the poem, it resembles pity for women who have no idea what harm they are doing or how out of touch their actions are with reality, who “knit socks” while the men they love die."" Glory of Women by anti-war poet Siegfried Sassoon is in fact the starting of the anti-women literature in the field of English literature. This sonnet is sarcastic in theme and in the structure as the title indicates the praise of the women, but the poem condemns women for making the bloody and destructive war a matter of pride to talk about. In the same manner the poem is in sonnet form, and it is obvious that the sonnet, always has the theme of love and romance, but here the theme is violence of war and the condemnation of women. In the beginning of the poem, Sassoon glorifies image of the soldiers among British women. They regard the soldier as brave, courageous and chivalrous and appreciates their wounds. They have the positive image or the hero image of the soldier. Women ignore the disgrace of the war appreciating their chivalry. They want to see their male members with the decorations and medals. Moreover, their stories are listened with joys and excitement. Women lament on the death of the soldiers as if the soldiers are the heroes. These events provide the evidence of the popular image of the soldiers during the First World War. The first part has presented the hero-image of the soldier created by the glorious talk of the women who sat at home, untouched by the torturous scene of the battlefield. But in the sestet, the previous idea of glory is opposed by the use of words like retire, dead, hell, horror, breaks, trampling, terrible corpses, blind with blood, fire etc. Sestet presents the villain image of the soldier. The soldiers are not as glorious as the women think to be because they only retire from the war field when they mutually destroy each other. They are the cruelest villains who trample over the corpse of others. Hero image of the first part is replaced by the villain image of the sestet. Octave gives the statement, sestet presents a counter statement. In sestet, the poet informs women of what they had never understood of: that war itself is not about honor and glory; pain, loss, and death are the ultimate result of war. The poem is not against Germany, but against a mechanism called war. In the concluding section of the poem, the speaker brings a reference of the German mother who might be knitting the socks by the moment her son is dying in the field of the war. Through this reference, the poet is not going against Germany, but just exposing the horrors of war. Mother’s son has been playing the game of killing and being killed and this time he could not win others. This shows that her son is not playing any heroic game, but the bloody game of mutual destruction. The title of the poem is ironical what women think to be a dignity that is in fact an act of disgrace. The soldiers are not famous, but infamous. The use of irony in this poem exposes the gap between what the women think of the soldiers and what the soldiers actually are. The irony is in the title what they think to be a glory is in fact an illusion. This poem is written in the Italian sonnet form with rhyming patterns of ABABCDCD EFGEFG. Some alliterative lines in the poem are: "heroes, home" and "blind with blood". The use of imagery in the poem such as ‘trampling the terrible corpses - blind with blood’ and ‘his face is trodden deeper into the mud’ intensify the horrific scene of war field. Through these imageries the poet is trying to depict a clearer mental picture and proves how actually destructive and brutal the war is. This poem accuses British women of gaining vicarious pleasure from the war, and glorying in the fighting of soldiers abroad. ‘Glory’ is a religious word; a divine light that shines from the sacred. Something glorious is something worthy of honour, or praise— here, this poem purports to write about the honour or praiseworthiness of women. In this poem, therefore, the ‘Glory of Women’ is considered ironically. STRUCTURE: ‘Glory of Women’ is a sonnet. The choice of a sonnet is again ironic— sonnets, of course, being traditionally associated with love. The poem is not necessarily a traditionally structured sonnet, however. The ‘volta’, or ‘turn’ of meaning or focus in the poem occurs before the sextet, as is traditional. There is a turn from detailing what Sassoon takes to be British women’s attitudes towards soldiering and war to a more savage imagery that shows the women to be deluded. There is also, unconventionally, an even more pronounced turn that occurs in the final three lines, as the shocking ending turns from British women to the German mother. “You love us when we’re heroes…”: from the first, this poem has a confrontational, accusatory tone, with the direct address of ‘you’ from a notional ‘us’; the voice of a male soldier. The idea of conditional love here— “when we’re heroes”— is the first sign of an accusation of hypocrisy leveled at women. “Or wounded in a mentionable place”: the suggestion is that female loyalty depends on the wound that a soldier sustains, and that it must not be socially embarrassing for women to relate. “You worship decorations”: the essential superficiality of the feminine viewpoint is suggested by the idea of worshipping “decorations”— another name for medals. “you believe / That chivalry redeems the war’s disgrace.”: Sassoon suggests that women romanticise the war, focusing on “chivalry” and honour. The war, meanwhile, is described as being precisely dishonorable: it is a “disgrace”. “You make us shells.”: women, Sassoon suggests, are complicit in the violence, because they are involved in the manufacture of weapons. “You listen with delight, / By tales of dirt and danger fondly thrilled.”: the strong rhythm imparted by the alliteration here— “delight”, “dirt”, “danger”— gives a sense of a compelling parlour narrative. “You crown our distant ardours…And mourn our laurelled memories…”: the most sarcastic lines in the poem, employing commonplace, romantic phrases and suggesting this is the limit of women’s understanding of war. To “crown… distant ardours” means to be the focus of the men’s desires; the “laurelled memories” talked of are the thoughts of the men killed and victorious (thus presented with laurel wreaths) in battle. Note the repetition of ‘our’ here; the opposition of men and women is particularly strongly sustained in these lines. “You can’t believe that British troops ‘retire’”: The beginning of the ‘sextet’ or final six lines of a sonnet. The poem turns from romantic images of men prevalent at home to the true actions of men in war. To ‘retire’, here, is a euphemism for retreat. “Hell’s last horror… Trampling the terrible corpses— blind with blood”: The alliteration here accentuates the vicious and desperate retreat of the men. The aspirate ‘h’ sounds recall the heavy breath of the running men, the harsher ‘t’ sounds the crushing of bones underfoot, while the plosive ‘b’s almost mimics the projection of blood itself. “O German mother dreaming by the fire…”: the sudden turn to the presentation of a German mother at home is surprising for the reader, after the focus on the insensitivities and moral complicity of British women in the war. In some ways she is presented more sympathetically than British women: her “dreaming”, because not elaborated on, doesn’t seem as immediately corrupt as that of British women. “While you are knitting socks… His face is trodden deeper in the mud.”: The final couplet is deliberately shocking. The contrast between the thoughtful domestic scene and the utter savagery of a human head being stood on is horrifying, and meant as a corrective to the illusion that dominates the poem. The brutal truth, Sassoon insists, is a factual corrective to delusion.

v Themes:
· Seizing the Day: In “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time,” a speaker encourages young women to seize the day and enjoy their youth—and, more specifically, to have plenty of sex and find a husband while they’re young. Youth, the speaker insists, is the best part of life, and it’s all too easy to waste one’s limited time by being “coy”—especially in matters of sex. The speaker begins by urging listeners (those "virgins" of the title) to gather a familiar image of both youth and sex: “rose-buds.” Those new buds, emerging in the spring and summer, suggest fresh and blooming youth, and they’re an old symbol of love and of the female body. Also note that at the time of the poem’s composition, the word “virgins” would have meant young women specifically, rather than just anyone who hasn’t had sex. In encouraging “virgins” to gather their rose-buds, then, the speaker points this poem directly at young women and encourages them to take advantage of their youthful sexuality while they still can. Those “rose-buds” also seem to represent both sexual experiences and the young women themselves: while they “smile” today, they’ll be “a-dying” tomorrow. Both sex and youth, the image suggests, are limited-time opportunities for women. The speaker then turns to bigger images that reflect the relentless passing of time, creating a sense of urgency: youth, sexuality, and life itself, the speaker implies, don’t keep forever. The poem follows the sun as it moves through the sky, getting closer and closer to setting every second. Then, the speaker gets more literal, stating flat out that “[t]hat age is best which is the first, / When youth and blood are warmer.” The image of warm blood seems to link human bodies to the sun, which also comes to a peak of heat and then steadily diminishes. These lines sound downright ominous, and seem intended to scare the “virgins”: the speaker’s visions of time’s remorseless passage suggest that things are only going to get worse for these young women. Having made this broader point, the speaker returns to directly addressing the “virgins” in the final stanza—and the poem's language here hints that the speaker might have some skin in this game. When the poem urges the young women not to be “coy,” the speaker's suggesting that they be sexually free and easy. The speaker follows this up with encouragement to go “marry”—the socially-approved way of channeling sexuality in the 17th century. However, leading with a discouragement of coyness seems almost like the opposite of rushing people into marriage. There’s a sly undertone here, even as the speaker seems to keep these recommendations strictly above board. In the final lines, the speaker takes a frostier tone again, warning the young women that once they’re past the prime of their youths, they might not have the chance to take all the sexual opportunities they’re refusing now. In that back-and-forth between encouragements to enjoy sexuality while it’s freshest and warnings that youth doesn’t last forever, the poem’s speaker thus does something rather sneaky. While the poem is making perfectly reasonable statements—youth doesn’t last forever, sexuality is fun—it's also slyly doing a little arguing on the speaker's own behalf. After all, it takes two to gather the rosebuds the speaker has in mind!
v Symbols:
· Flowers: The entire first stanza of "To the Virgins" is about flowers. The speaker uses the flower's life cycle to emphasize the brevity (shortness) of human life and the importance of seizing opportunities while one can.
Line 1: The speaker tells the virgins to gather their rosebuds while they can. By the end of the poem it becomes clear that rosebuds are probably a metaphor for marriage. The virgins only have so much time to marry, just like the rosebuds are only worth picking for so long.
Lines 3-4: The speaker notes how a flower that is alive one day may just as easily be dead the next. Flowers don't actually "smile"; the speaker gives a human quality (smiling) to an inhuman thing (flower) here, which is called personification.
Line 15: The speaker doesn't actually refer to flowers here, but the word "prime," as in the expression "prime of life" recalls the idea of ripe rosebuds from line 1.
· The Sun: The entire second stanza of "To the Virgins" is about the sun's "race" through the sky. The farther the sun progresses through the sky, the closer it is to setting. Likewise, the further one progresses through life (the older one gets) the closer one is to the end (death). The speaker doesn't come out and say that, but it's very strongly implied, both in the second stanza and throughout the poem.
Line 5: The speaker calls the sun the "glorious lamp of heaven." "Lamp" is here a metaphor for the sun, which is like a lamp in that it "lights up" the heavens just like a lamp lights up a room.
Lines 6: The sun gets "higher" as it progresses from east to west. Have you ever noticed that it looks "low" in the morning, is directly overhead at noon, and is low again when it "sets"? The sun doesn't really "get" "higher"; this is attributing human characteristics (moving up) to a non-human thing (the sun), which is called personification.
Line 7: The sun isn't a human thing, so it can't really "run" a "race." This is personification again.
Line 8: The sun doesn't really "set"; the earth rotates. "Setting" is here a metaphor for what appears to happen at the end of the day. Also, "setting" is a human activity, and the sun isn't human; so this is more personification.
· Temperature: Temperature is a powerful metaphor in this poem for youth, health, vigor, and the like.
Line 5: The speaker calls the sun a "glorious lamp." "Lamp" is a metaphor for the sun, which lights up the sky just like a lamp. Both "lamp" and "sun" suggest warmth.
Line 8: When the sun sets, the temperature drops. "Setting" is here a metaphor for what appears to happen at the end of the day. Also, "setting" is a human activity, and the sun isn't human; this is called personification.
Lines 9-10: The speaker calls youth the best "age." People aren't literally "warmer" when they're younger, so "warmer" is here a metaphor for health, vigor, and other things we associate with youth.
· Youth and Age: In the third stanza, the speaker straight-up says that youth is the best time of life. This is partly because it is associated with life and health rather than death and sickness. Elsewhere in the poem, he celebrates the "prime" of one's life, the time when a person is most desirable for marriage (i.e., still young enough to look good and, perhaps, have children). In many ways, the poem says what all of us have always known: getting old is kind of a bummer.
Line 1: The speaker tells the virgins to gather their "rosebuds" while they still can (i.e., while they're still ripe, not old or dying). By the end of the poem it becomes clear that rosebuds are probably a metaphor for marriage.
Line 2: The speaker reminds the virgins that time ("Old time") is passing and that flowers may die soon. Time doesn't literally fly, so flight is a metaphor for the passage of time. While the flowers are a metaphor for marriage, they also seem to be a metaphor for human life, which can be just as fleeting.
Line 4: We associate death with old age, and the speaker says that the flowers may die soon. The flowers are a metaphor for human life, which can end suddenly at any time, with no discernible reason.
Lines 6-8: The sun's progress ("race") through sky is a metaphor for a human's journey through life. The farther along we get – the higher, in the metaphor – the closer we are to "setting," or death. The sun doesn't really "set" or "get" higher; this type of attribution of human qualities or actions to a non-human thing is called personification.
Lines 9-10: The "first" period ("age") of our life is best, the speaker says. He clearly means youth, or the time when we are not cold (dead) but rather "warmer." The temperatures here are a metaphor for health, vigor, and youth. (One's temperature doesn't literally change over the course of one's life.)
Lines 11-12: The speaker presents the process of aging as a gradual decline, where everything gets progressively worse. "Spent" (meaning "used up") is a metaphor for the loss of one's youth.
Line 15: Old age is described as the loss of one's "prime" (i.e., the time when one is most active, most able to get married, etc.).
v Setting: In Robert Herrick's carpe diem poem, "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time," the speaker is advising young women to marry while they are still young and capable of attracting a mate. The speaker's stance is the simple, common belief that the stage of life called "youth" is the best for certain life activities. There's no specific setting in "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time," but the natural world still plays an important role here. This is a landscape of rosebuds, brilliant sunlight, and the warmth of summertime—images of a youth that passes all too quickly. In this poem's landscape, people are closely connected to nature, and women can gather flowers and be flowers at the same time. This summer-world of hot-blooded youth also foreshadows a faded winter of old age.
v Genre: "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time" encourages its audience to seize the day, and belongs to a genre of carpe diem poems in which the kind of day-seizing being advocated for is pretty specific: these are poems addressed to women on behalf of men who want to sleep with them. Andrew Marvell and John Donne, contemporaries of Herrick, also wrote famous and beautiful examples of the genre.
v Style: “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” is composed of four stanzas, each consisting of four lines of verse. Each stanza is composed of a single sentence. The poem employs end rhymes, the rhyming pattern being abab, cdcd, efef, ghgh.
v Tone: Robert Herrick's poem, “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time,” delivers a playful tone, which encourages the reader to live life to its fullest.
v Foreshadowing: This summer-world of hot-blooded youth also foreshadows a faded winter of old age.
v Literary Devices: Herrick makes use of several literary devices in ‘To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time.’ These include but are not limited to personification, metaphor, and alliteration. A metaphor is a comparison between two, seemingly unlike things. These are created without the use of “like” or “as.” There is a good example at the end of the first stanza when the poet speaks about flowers dying. They are a metaphor for women whose beauty fades as quickly as it blossomed. Personification is another type of figurative language. It occurs when the poet imbues something non-human with human characteristics. For example, “Time” in line two of the first stanza is described as “flying.” This is a common example, one that is meant to emphasize how fast time passes. Alliteration is a type of repetition, one that’s concerned with the use and reuse of the same consonant sounds at the beginning of multiple words. For example, “flying” and “flower” in stanza one and “heaven” and “higher” in stanza two. There are several other examples in the following stanzas.
Structure and Form: ‘To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time’ by Robert Herrick is a four stanza poem which is separated into sets of four lines or quatrains. It was first published in 1648 in a volume titled Hesperides. It is one of the most famous poems based on the notion of “carpe diem” or seizes the day. One is extolled to live in the moment and waste no time on frivolous pursuits in this particular philosophy. The poet has chosen to structure this piece with a consistent pattern of rhyme, which follows the scheme of abab cdcd efef ghgh. This sing-song-like scheme is suited to the themes of ‘To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time’ in that it allows the text to be read as a kind of fable or story that conveys a particular message or warning. The message the speaker is hoping to spread is closer to a warning than a moral lesson. It is the speaker’s goal that all of those who are still in the good graces of time do not squander the years they have left. He is addressing this piece to one particular type of listener or reader, a “Virgin.” From the use of this term, it is clear he is referring to any young, unmarried woman who he thinks is wasting her beauty if not marrying as soon as possible.

This interpreted as resurrected people walking around in Jerusalem after Jesus' death [Matthew 27:52-53] makes the most sense when 1) the Jewish historical/cultural milieu, 2) the messianic mission of Jesus, 3) the OT prophetic writings about the Messiah and Matthew' Jewish-oriented literary mission are taken into consideration.
First, in a major section of Jewish thought of the day, the bodily resurrection of OT Jewish saints would occur when the messiah came. They literally expected a bodily resurrection (like that in the passage under discussion) to occur at the revealing of the messiah... Indeed, one rabbi was recorded as saying this:
"R. Jeremiah commanded, 'When you bury me, put shoes on my feet, and give me a staff in my hand, and lay me on one side; that when Messias comes I may be ready."(Lightfoot, _Commentary of the New Testament from the Talmud and Hebraica)
Much of such rabbinical lore had an element of truth in it; and this was no exception...the Messiah did produce some resurrections of some of the saints--but only as a first-fruits of His work... So, in keeping with Matthew's Jewish-focused message, it makes sense for him to record this action of the Messiah. This event actually does mesh with the general topics in NT teachings: Jesus teaching about resurrection to Mary in John; the Christ as first fruits in Paul; and Christ leading 'captivity captive' (OT saints in Sheol released at the atonement)...
These types of resurrection people (probably in normal form, like Lazarus was raised) form the basis for one argument of the first apologists of the faith, Quadratus. He was a very early 2nd century apologist (writing sometime during the reign of Hadrian), and we have only one fragment of his: "But our Savior's works were permanent, for they were real. Those who had been cured or rose from the dead not only appeared to be cured or raised but were permanent, not only during our Savior's stay on earth, but also after his departure. They remained for a considerable period, so that some of them even reached our times." (Greek Apologists of the Second Century, Robert M. Grant, Westminster: 1988)
Now it would be highly unusual for someone raised in 33 ad to live naturally another 90-100 years (to the times of Quadratus' writings) but this is not necessarily the scope of his reference to 'our times'...this latter phrase could often mean plus-or-minus 50-75 years, allowing these saints to die naturally again (as would have the resurrected Lazarus, the widow's son, etc.) after a few decades. The point is that resurrections are not isolated phenomena--they were a bit more widespread than the few individual cases mentioned in the gospels would lead us to believe...Eutychus by Paul, the group at the Crucifixion--indeed, even Ireneaus--a half century later--could write of resurrections in Christian Churches (Against Heresies 2.32.4)...
Indeed, stories of these risen saints circulated over time. They show up in several of the NT apocryphal works (e.g. The Greek Apocalypse of Ezra 7.1-2, Gospel of Nicodemus 17ff). For example, in this later work (Gospel of Nicodemus/Acts of Pilate), there is the story of Simeon and his sons (living in Arimathea), who were raised at that time, whose tombs were still open (for inspection?), and who wrote sworn testimony to their resurrection. While many of these stories are no doubt might be embellishments of the passage in Matthew (apocryphal writings generally "filled in the gaps" left by the biblical writers), there may be some historical core behind such related stories as this one about Simeon.
Paul's argument in Col 2.15:" And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." might find a reference to this 'public' display of the resurrection power of Jesus. Its tight coupling in the narrative with the torn veil, suggests that it too is part of the dramatic display of God's 'change of program' for His people...no longer is access to God 'covered with a veil' and no longer are His saints covered with 'the veil of death'... It is this last point that tips us off to what Matthew is likely demonstrating/pointing out in this passage: that the rising/appearing of the saints is intimately connected with both the literary texture of the passage and with the ministry of the Jewish Messiah...
The connection with the preceding image (i.e. the earthquake and rocks) shows up in the Jewish connection between the two in the thought of the day. So Raymond Brown, in The Death of the Messiah, gives us the archeological background:
The connection of the tomb openings with the preceding rending of the rocks is visible in the Dura Europos synagogue wall-paintings that portray the raising of the dead as part of the enlivening of the dry bones in Ezek 37--a 3d-cent. AD tableau that is very helpful in understanding how Matt and/or his readers might imagine the scene he is narrating. There in the splitting of a mountain covered by trees (almost surely the Mount of Olives rent by an earthquake), rocks are rent, thus opening up tombs burrowed into the sides of the mountain and exposing bodies of the dead and their parts. A figure is depicted who may be the Davidic Messiah (see Ezek 37:24-25) bringing about this raising of the dead. Earlier and contemporary with the writing of Matt there is testimony to the importance that Ezek 37 had for the just who died for their convictions about God. At Masada, where Jewish Zealots made their last stand against the Roman armies in AD 73, in the floor of the synagogue were found fragments of a scroll on which was written Ezekiel's account of his vision of the raising of the dead bones. Consequently, even apart from the Dura Europos picturization, Ezek 37:12-13 may be the key passage behind Matt's description both in this line and in what follows, for it offers the only opening of tombs (as distinct from the simple raising of the dead) described in the OT. The people of God are assured that they will come to know the Lord because: "I will open your tombs [mnema], and I will bring you up out of your tombs, and I will lead you into the land of Israel."
Its connection with the messianic ministry of Jesus (of primary concern to Matthew) is also seen:
The coming of the kingdom of God in the ministry of Jesus was understood not as the final manifestation of the kingdom (i.e., the culmination when the Son of Man would gather before him all the nations, assigning those who are to inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world, as in 25:31-34) but as an inbreaking inaugurating and anticipating it. Similarly, this raising of "many bodies" as Jesus dies is not the universal final resurrection but an inbreaking of God's power signifying that the last times have begun and the judgment has been inaugurated. [The Death of the Messiah, Brown]
And finally, its connection with the presentation motif of Matthew (i.e. relating the events surrounding the life and ministry of Jesus to its OT background) is seen through the explicit Ezekiel imagery:
Matt's second motive in adding v. 53 was the fulfillment of Scripture. Above I pointed out how much Ezek 37 with its creative description of the enlivening of the dry bones influenced Jewish imagination in picturing the resurrection of the dead. The first part of Ezek 37:12-13, "I will open your tombs," probably shaped the third line of the quatrain of Matt 27:51b-52b, "And the tombs were opened." But the Ezek passage continues: "And I will bring you up out of your tombs, and I will lead you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord." Even as elsewhere Matt enhances the scriptural background and flavoring of material taken from Mark, so here scripturally he goes beyond the quatrain by offering in 27:53 the fulfillment of the rest of the Ezek passage: "And having come out from the tombs, . . . they entered into the holy city [of Jerusalem]." Another biblical passage may have shaped Matt's addition, especially the last clause "and they were made visible to many," i.e., Isa 26:19 (LXX): "Those in the tombs shall be raised, and those in the land [or on the earth] shall rejoice." Thus in what he has added to Mark (both the quatrain taken over from popular tradition and his own commentary on it), Matt has developed the theological insight. In apocalyptic language and imagery borrowed from Scripture he teaches that the death of Jesus and his resurrection ("raising") marked the beginning of the last times and of God's judgment...[The Death of the Messiah, Brown]
Thus, the passage finds connection with (1) the Jewish milieu, (2) the messianic mission of Jesus, and (3) the OT prophetic writings about the Messiah. Far from being simply 'stuck on', it is very much a part of the Jewish context in which Jesus ministered and in which Matthew wrote. Overall, the passage makes the theological connections clear for the reader. Brown summarizes this well, noting that this small passage...
...offered a dramatic way in which ordinary people familiar with OT thought could understand that the death of Jesus on the cross had introduced the day of the Lord with all its aspects, negative (divine wrath, judgment) and positive (conquest of death, resurrection to eternal life).'
Also, it should be quite clear as to why it did not show up in Luke-writing to the Gentiles, and in Mark: It would not have been relevant to their literary purposes.
Thus, this is not some off the wall "zombie" story, as some critics charge; when taking the historical/cultural/theological/literary context of the original authoreaders into consideration and not anachronistic interpretations or naturalistic assumptions. The former since this is the standard for all works, and the latter only applies if their ontological view can be proven.

“next to of course god america i
love you land of the pilgrims’ and so forth oh
say can you see by the dawn’s early my
country ’tis of centuries come and go
and are no more what of it we should worry
in every language even deafanddumb
thy sons acclaim your glorious name by gorry
by jingo by gee by gosh by gum
why talk of beauty what could be more beaut-
iful than these heroic happy dead
who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter
they did not stop to think they died instead
then shall the voice of liberty be mute?”
He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water
From: https://genius.com/E-e-cummings-next-to-of-course-god-america-i-annotated

ee cummings, a pacifist, was imprisoned during World War One for his supposed disloyalty to America. He was also accused, falsely, of being a spy. After the war he moved to Paris where he wrote satirical poems. His novel The Enormous Room (1922) was the first of his many literary attacks on authoritarianism and rabid nationalism.
The poem is a parody of a ‘speech’ to extreme patriots — the ranting monologue of ‘God-fearing’ America. It is also a satire on the type of blind jingoism that distorts otherwise intelligent minds in relation to their country. cummings applies a reductio ad absurdum technique, mocking the way in which people blinded by patriotism can acquire illogical and dangerous beliefs.
cummings uses a dense mishmash of American anthems, songs and other patriotic American sentiments, a technique is known as intertextuality. These are broken up by few dismissive words, like, “and so forth” and “what of it”.
It is notable that there are fourteen lines — the length of a sonnet. Sonnets usually end with either a rhyming couplet or a rhyming quatrain. cumming’s poem does the latter. This is ironic, as sonnets are formal, structured and intelligently witty, whereas this poem is nonsensical gibberish — though of course also extremely intelligent.
cummings deliberately makes the poem incomprehensible, like the extreme patriotism he is mocking. Added to this, it reads like a drunken ramble; being a god-fearing patriot clearly doesn’t exclude a drink problem.
The poem encapsulates cumming’s attitude, as summed up by the final line; contemptuous and deeply sceptical.

What I really appreciate about this poem is that it's a good example of dadaist attack, without it being something abstract like a urinal or a collage. The summary makes note of him using a reductio ad absurdum technique to mock the way nationalists acquire illogical and dangerous beliefs. On modern left forums, very dadaist subconsciously and frustratingly not consciously, there's a parallel form of this in "peepoo" and "pigpoopballs". When an argument is morally absurd, it's misquoted as nonsense or that person peeing out of their butt. When they expect a serious reply, they're given a picture of a pig pooping on its balls.
Now that's stupid of course, but it's important. Legitimacy and authority are social constructs. German dadaists had to listen to the Kaiser's propaganda while they watched the result of World War 1. The absurd disconnection between the spectacles pushed by German authorities and the suffering people experienced from the reality was obfuscated by the rhetorically naturalised legitimacy of state and capital. The state just is, their rule is legitimate because they rule, their path is sensible because they're the adults in the room. No relief was coming from them as long as the war was sustainable and profitable, so the civilian populations could either accept the spectacle and make more sons or find grounds to reject it when the totality of media supported it.
The dadaists made pointed attacks against the underlying legitimacy of the rhetoric, message, and medium. It wasn't the state offering its patriotic message of hope for the victory come Spring or nascent marketers selling commodified happiness to a dying country, it was dadadadadada psychobabble.
A modern equivalent denies that ideology is a marketplace of coequal ideas. It challenges the purpose of debate and the legitimacy of the counter-position. It attacks narratives and shoots the messenger from a chaotic good standpoint. I think there's a tremendous amount of potential for more revolutionary art in being able to deconstruct bullshit and attack its agents as nonsensical dumb guys.

SKIP TO MAIN CONTENT
SEARCH
WRITE BETTER FICTION
WRITE BETTER NONFICTION
WRITE BETTER POETRY
GET PUBLISHED
BE INSPIRED
WD COMPETITIONS
RESOURCES
ABOUT US MEET US WRITE FOR US ADVERTISE WITH US SUBSCRIBE RENEW A SUBSCRIPTION CUSTOMER SERVICE CURRENT ISSUE BACK ISSUES MEDIA KIT GIVE A GIFT SUBSCRIPTION COMPETITIONS WRITER'S DIGEST ANNUAL CONFERENCE NOVEL WRITING CONFERENCE WRITER'S DIGEST SHOP WD UNIVERSITY TUTORIALS WEBINARS 2ND DRAFT CRITIQUES DIGITAL EDITIONS SCRIPTMAG.COM ACTIVE INTEREST MEDIA PRIVACY POLICY TERMS OF SERVICE PRIVACY SETTINGS
DECEMBER 15, 2021
Writer's Digest home
UPDATED:MAR 12, 2021ORIGINAL:AUG 4, 2014 List of 168 Poetic Forms for Poets Check out this list of 168 poetic forms for poets that includes everything from abstract poetry and ae freislighe to villanelle and zappai—and so many more in between. ROBERT LEE BREWER Over the years, this list of poetic forms for poets has grown from 50 to 86 to 100 and now 168. And I doubt we're anywhere near adding to the list (still have plenty of forms to discuss for future Poetic Form Fridays). This list is a combination of well-established traditional forms, newer types of poems, and even a few fun super new nonce forms.
(Common Poetry Terms.)
Each form listed below has a very brief description to give the vaguest ideas of how it differs from the others in the list, but I advise clicking the link for the name of the form to gain a true understanding of the guidelines for each poetic form. Also, most of those pages include at least one (if not several) example poems to show how to write them.
And with that simple introduction, please enjoy this updated list of poetic forms from abstract to zejel and 160+ more in between. Be sure to check out each form. It might even make a good year-long challenge to write three forms each week of the year.
Image placeholder title Here's my list of 168 poetic forms: (Note: Click on the name of each form to read the full description in the original posts.)
Abstract (or Sound) Poetry. Abstract was a term used by Dame Edith Sitwell. Acrostic. A form for hidden messages. Ae Freislighe. Irish quatrain with intense rhyme scheme. Alphabet Poetry. Perfect back-to-school poetry. Anagrammatic Poetry. More fun with letters. Ars Poetica. The art of writing poems about writing poems. Awdl Gywydd. Welsh quatrain with end and internal rhymes. Ballade. 28-line French poetic form. Barzeletta (or Frottola-barzelletta). Italian poetic form. Blackout Poems. Making poems from articles. The Blitz. 50-liner invented by Robert Keim. Bob and Wheel. Quintain form that's often part of a longer poem. The Bop. Three stanzas and three refrains, developed by Afaa Michael Weaver. Breccbairdne. Irish quatrain form with 5 syllables in first line, 6 in the others. Bref Double. French quatorzain. Byr a Thoddaid Poems. Welsh quatrain. Casbairdne. Irish quatrain form. Cascade. Variable length form invented by Udit Bhatia. Catena Rondo. Interlinked quatrain form developed by Robin Skelton. Cento. A form of found poetry. Cethramtu Rannaigechta Moire. Irish quatrain form with 3-syllable lines. Chanso. Five to six stanzas with an envoy. Chant. If it works once, run it into the ground. Chant Royal. 60-line French form. Chueh-chu. Chinese 8-line "sonnet cut short." Cinquain. Popular five-liner. Clerihew. English quatrain form. Clogyrnach. 6-line Welsh form. Concrete Poems. Shapely poetry. Contrapuntal Poems. Independent poems that get intertwined. Cro Cumaisc Etir Casbairdni Ocus Lethrannaighecht. Irish quatrain form. Curtal Sonnet. 11-line sonnet invented by Gerard Manley Hopkins. Cut-up Method (or Technique). Form of found poetry. Cyhydedd Fer. Welsh couplet form. Cyhydedd Hir. Welsh quatrain form. Cyhydedd Naw Ban. Welsh couplet form with 9-syllable lines. Cyrch A Chwta. 8-line Welsh form with 7 syllables per line. Cywydd Deuair Fyrion. Welsh couplet form with 4 syllables. Cywydd Deuair Hirion. Welsh couplet form with 7 syllables. Cywydd Llosgyrnog. 6-liner with internal rhymes and variable syllables. Dansa. Occitan poetic form. Dechnad Cummaisc. Irish quatrain form with alternating line lengths. Dechnad Mor. Variation on the dechnad cummaisc. Decima. Various versions of 10-line forms. Deibide Baise Fri Toin. A long way of saying Irish quatrain form. Descort. French form that makes each line special. Diminishing Verse. Poems that disappear one letter per line. Dizain. French 10x10 form. Dodoitsu. 4-line Japanese form. Double Dactyl. Light verse form invented by Anthony Hecht and Paul Pascal. Droigneach. Irish 4-liner. Echo Verse. A poem that repeats itself (self). Ekphrasis (or Ekphrastic Poetry). Poem inspired by another piece of art. Elegy. Song of sorrow or mourning. Endecha. Spanish quatrain form. Englyn Byr Cwca. Welsh tercet form with internal rhymes. Englyn Cyrch. Welsh 4-liner with 7 syllables per line. Epitaphs. Or tombstone poetics. Erasure Poems. Like blackout poems, but without the markers. Espinela. Spanish 10-liner named after Vincente Espinel.
Play with poetic forms!
Poetic forms are fun poetic games, and this digital guide collects more than 100 poetic forms, including more established poetic forms (like sestinas and sonnets) and newer invented forms (like golden shovels and fibs).
Click to continue.
Flamenca. Spanish quintain form. The Fib. Fun form from Gregory K. Pincus. Found Poetry. Finders keepers, right? Free Verse. Breaking lines anytime without rhymes. Ghazal. Couplets and a refrain. Glose (or Glosa). 40-line poem based off an epigraph. Gogyohka. 5-line poem developed by Enta Kusakabe. Golden Shovel. Terrance Hayes-invented, Gwendolyn Brooks-inspired. Gwawdodyn. Welsh poetic form. Gwawdodyn Byr. Welsh quatrain form with 9 and 10 syllable lines. Gwawdodyn Hir. Welsh 6-liner. Haibun. Japanese form popularized by Matsuo Basho. Haiku. Popular Japanese form. Haiku Sonnet. 4 haiku and a couplet. Hay(na)ku. Eileen Tabios form with 3 lines, 6 words. Hir a Thoddaid. 6 lines that mostly all share the same rhyme. Huitain. French 8-liner with an ababbcbc rhyme scheme. Imayo. 4-line Japanese poem with a pause in the middle of each line. Interlocking Rubaiyat. Used by Omar Khayyam, Robert Frost, and many others. Italian Octave. Aka first 8 lines of Petrarchan sonnet. Katauta Poems. Haiku (or senryu) for lovers. Kimo. Israeli version of haiku. Kouta. Japanese quatrain form. Kwansaba. Form invented by Eugene B. Redmond. Kyrielle. Adjustable French form. Lai. Nine-liner from the French. Landay. Poem comprised of self-contained couplets. Lethrannaegecht Mor. Irish quatrain form with 5-syllable lines. Limerick. 5 lines and naughty rhymes. List Poem. Poetry at the grocery store. Luc Bat. Vietnamese "6-8" form. Lune. Robert Kelly invention, also known as American haiku. Madrigal. Learn both the Italian and English versions. Magic 9. The "abacadaba" 9-line rhyme scheme. Masnavi (or Mathnawi). Older form with Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Urdu variants. Minute Poem. 3 quatrains and a simple rhyme scheme. Mistress Bradstreet Stanza. John Berryman invention. Mondo. Brief collaborative Q&A poem. Monotetra. Quatrain madness developed by Michael Walker. Nashers. Light verse form invented by Ogden Nash. Nonce Forms. Your own inventions. Nonet. Nine-line countdown poem. Novem. Tercet form invented by Robin Skelton. Occasional Poetry. Poetry for any occasion. Ode. Praise poetry! Ottava Rima. ABC rhymes in 8 lines. Ovillejo Poems. 10-liner popularized by Miguel de Cervantes.
Build an Audience for Your Poetry!
While your focus as a poet will always be on refining your craft, why not cultivate a following along the way? With the multitude of social networking opportunities available today, it’s never been easier to connect with other poetry enthusiasts.
Click to continue.
Palindrome (or Mirror Poetry). Reflective poetic form. Pantoum. The repetitive form from Malay. Paradelle. Silly and/or psycho form from Billy Collins. Pregunta. Spanish collaborative poem. Prose. Just when you thought poetry was defined by line breaks. Qasida. Guest post by Ren Powell. Quatern. French 4x4 form. Quintilla. Spanish 5-liner. Rannaigheact Mhor. Irish form that fits a lot of rules into 28 syllables. Renga. Japanese collaborative form. Rhupunt. Welsh form that offers variability and rigidity simultaneously. Rimas Dissolutas. Old French form that rhymes and doesn't rhyme. Rime Couee. French 6-liner. Rinnard. Irish quatrain form with 6-syllable lines. Rispetto. Italian poetic form. Rondeau. 15 lines, 3 stanzas, and a lot of rhymes. Rondeau Redoublé. French 25-liner invented by Clément Marot. Rondel. 13 lines in 3 stanzas. Rondel Supreme. French 14-liner. Rondelet. French 7-liner. Rondine. 12-liner with a refrain. The Roundabout. Form from Sara Diane Doyle and David Edwards. Roundel. English 11-line variant of the roundeau. Roundelay. Simple lyric poem that uses a refrain. Schuttelreim. German couplet form. Seadna. Irish quatrain form. Sedoka. Japanese Q&A 6-liner. Seguidilla. Spanish 7-liner that began as a dance song. Senryu. What many people consider haiku. Sestina. The form poets either love or hate. Shadorma. Spanish 6-liner. Sicilian Octave. 8-liner with abababab rhyme scheme and iambic pentameter. Sijo. Korean poetic form. Skeltonic Verse. "Tumbling verse" named after originator, John Skelton. Snam Suad. Irish 8-liner. Soledad. Spanish tercet form. Somonka. Japanese collaborative form. Sonnet. Shakespeare's 14-line fave. Stornello. Italian tercet form. Strambotto. Hendecasyllabic octave with abababab rhyme scheme. Tanka. Kinda like a haiku plus a couplet. Tautogram. Poem in which all words start with the same letter. Tawddgyrch Cadwynog. Welsh form comprised of pairs of quatrains. Terzanelle. What happens when the terza rima and villanelle combine. Than-bauk. Burmese descending rhyme tercet (or linked verse). Toddaid. Welsh quatrain form. Trenta-Sei. 36-liner invented by John Ciardi. Treochair. Alliterative tercets that rhyme with variable 3/7/7 lines. Trian Rannaigechta Moire. Irish quatrain form in which all end words consonate. Tricubes. 3 stanzas by 3 lines by 3 syllables. Trimeric. 13-line form invented by Charles A. Stone. Triolet. 8-line French form. Tripadi. Bengali tercet form. Triversen. William Carlos Williams invention: six tercets. Viator. Refrain form invented by Robin Skelton. Villanelle. Five tercets and a quatrain. Virelai. French 9-liner with alternating line lengths and rhymes. Waka. Japanese 5-liner. Waltmarie. Candace Kubinec invention. Ya-du. Burmese quintain form. Zappai. Just another 3-liner form. Zejel. Fun form likely invented by a ninth century Hispano-Muslim poet.
Poem your days away with Robert Lee Brewer's Smash Poetry Journal. This fun poetic guide is loaded with 125 poetry prompts, space to place your poems, and plenty of fun poetic asides.
IndieBound Amazon
(Writer's Digest uses affiliate links)
POETIC TERMSPOETIC FORMSPOETIC FORM BY ROBERT LEE BREWER Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes editing Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. He's the author of Solving the World's Problems, Smash Poetry Journal, and The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets. He loves blogging on a variety of writing and publishing topics, but he's most active with Poetic Asides and writes a column under the same name for Writer's Digest magazine. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
WEDNESDAY POETRY PROMPTS Wednesday Poetry Prompts: 591 BY ROBERT LEE BREWER6 HOURS AGO MEMOIR AGENTS Agent Alert: Rica Allannic of the David Black Agency BY ROBERT LEE BREWER13 HOURS AGO CREATIVE WRITING PROMPTS Carry the Light BY MORIAH RICHARD22 HOURS AGO INTERVIEWS Seressia Glass: On Cosplaying Feelings in Romantic Comedy BY ROBERT LEE BREWERDEC 14, 2021 MARKET SPOTLIGHT Bookouture: Market Spotlight BY ROBERT LEE BREWERDEC 13, 2021 GRAMMAR Anywhere vs. Everywhere vs. Nowhere vs. Somewhere (Grammar Rules) BY ROBERT LEE BREWERDEC 13, 2021 WD POETIC FORM CHALLENGE WD Poetic Form Challenge: Seadna BY ROBERT LEE BREWERDEC 13, 2021 PERSONAL ESSAYS What Is a Fragmented Essay in Writing? BY ROBERT LEE BREWERDEC 12, 2021 RESOURCES WD Presents: Last Chance to Nominate Your Favorite Writing Websites, 5 WDU Courses, and More! BY WRITERS DIGEST STAFFDEC 12, 2021
About Us Meet Us Write For Us Advertise With Us Subscribe Renew a subscription Customer Service Current Issue Back Issues Media Kit Give a Gift Subscription Competitions Writer's Digest Annual Conference Novel Writing Conference Writer's Digest Shop WD University Tutorials Webinars 2nd Draft Critiques Digital Editions ScriptMag.com Active Interest Media Privacy Policy Terms of Service © 2021 Active Interest Media All Rights Reserved.

I’m really enjoying Turco’s “The New Book of Forms” but he doesn’t fully define his notation conventions (maybe I missed it) which is causing me some confusion. Also, I love that most sections provide examples for the forms but many seem to deviate from the described notation which also causes some confusion. Is the deviation my misreading or simply artistic liberty on the poet’s end? Two examples are attached.
Example 1: The Double Refrain Ballade https://ibb.co/z61K5RS
In his description, Turco notates the rhyming scheme as abaBbcbC. I’m not totally clear on what the lowercase vs uppercase lettering denotes here and the example doesn’t seem to clarify.
Example 2: Rispetto https://ibb.co/ky3BJ30
In this example he says that the form contains two quatrains rhyming abab ccdd. He also says that the example is in iambic tetrameter. Perhaps I’m just too green with scanning and notation and am reading this incorrectly but I’m not seeing iambic tetrameter (I see something more like trimeter). The way I read it, it seems to have emphasis on:
‘stand’, ‘young’, and ‘bloods’ [first line].
Similarly, I see emphasis on: ‘fierce’, ‘blood’, and ‘up’ [second line].
Emphasis on: ‘Sit’, ‘grey-‘, and ‘-beards’ [third line]
Emphasis on: ‘Sage-’, ‘in’, and ‘cup’. [fourth line]
When read this way, I would assume these lines feature extra unaccented syllables (anacrusis) at the beginnings of lines 1-4. And in line 1 for example, I see the anacrusis iamb followed by an anapest (two unaccented syllables followed by an accented one — “with the young”), and ending as a catalectic line (leaving out a syllable in the last foot).
Considering the notation vs the first stanza presented in the example, lines 1 and 3 don’t rhyme per the abab notation. Similarly, lines 1 and 2 don’t rhyme per the ccdd notation.
Am I just grossly misunderstanding this, reading it wrong, and analyzing it incorrectly?
Im pretty green with the notation and vocabulary and am trying to formalize my understanding beyond just reading poetry as I have previously. Any help would be appreciated.

This post I’m making of the historical riddles found in Noceda y Sanlucar et al version of the Vocabulario de Lengua Tagala. It is to show the ‘poetic’ and the different ‘cultural’ ways that Filipinos thought, and how words were expressed in their languages in the linguistic arts of ancient times. In the pre-colonial times, Filipinos had a strong poetic culture. In their languages, they used allegories and metaphorical constructions in different ways of speech. Some in high poetry, sometimes in songs, sometimes in writing, or sometimes just in plain speech.
Unfortunately we do not have many strict historical examples of these poems (though we do have early examples that have only mild influences and we can also deconstruct their structure from latter examples using historical accounts) because those that survived, ie those that the Spanish wrote down/published, were heavily influenced by Spanish style by late 16th c. The Tagalog styles of poetry (19 genres, even sometimes the structures ie quatrain, how many syllables per line etc) are even mentioned/described by this Tagala dictionary…but for brevity’s sake I’m gonna focus just on the riddles found in this book. A great resource on the evolution of historical Tagalog poetry if you want to learn further is Dr. Bienvenido Lumbera, an award winning Filipino poet (perfect to have written on this subject since he is a poet…historians like me couldn’t criticize the structure of poetry even if I tried lol) who wrote about the history (ie hispanization of Tagalog poetry) in a book and also if you can’t read a whole book he has written on it in an article for PH Studies (1968). Another is Donn Hart’s Riddles in Filipino Folklore (1964) which analyzed various ethnic groups’ (mostly those that were Christianized) native riddles in semantic, morphology and phonology. Both are partially available on Google Books. PS: Lumbera also wrote about these bugtongs himself in another article (1968), which I read after I made this post, but you'll see some addition in the annotation. His article is better than what I wrote here...so perhaps cross check the info lol
It is noted by multiple historical accounts (eg. Alcina’s account) that many Spanish who came to the PH had issues understanding the ‘lyrical’ meaning of some of these allegories because many lacked the cultural understanding of the Filipino culture. In this vocabulario it is stated there were 16 types of ‘auit’ ‘awit’ ‘songs/chants’ (awit literally means singing or chanting, but included poetic verse; the ancients, despite some groups having ability to read and write, still preferred the use of oral transmission of information and art---this in fact has implication in the formation of post-colonial poetry per Lumbera as one of the reason why many of them were not written down is because they remained spoken/oratory art, never transcribed). Among those is the bugtong (also called ‘patooran’ ‘to give meaning’ from ‘tood’ ‘meaning’), riddles that are usually composed in form of couplets. These ‘bogtongs’ are found in different entries throughout the Vocabulario (just like the metaphors in DS’ dictionary) in order for the intended reader (ie Spanish speakers) to see how the Tagalog speakers (ie natives) might use them as examples in speech. Clearly these riddles and metaphors were often used in daily speech, enough so that they wanted to include them in the book in case the readers encounter them in real conversations. The structure of most of these riddles are typically 7 syllables x 2 lines that rhyme (rhyming scheme AA). This is typical to many ancient native Tagalog poetry styles which (per Lumbera, in fact stated in this dictionary as well) had a meter of 7 syllables, 4 lines (ie quatrain) with independent stanzas that rhymed (rhyming scheme AAAA). Example per this vocabulario: “Tanaga, a type of Tagalog high poetry, which consists of 7 syllables and 4 verses, full of metaphors.” The 8 syllable meter, on the other hand is attributed to the Spanish poetic style, which dominated the ‘Filipino religious poetry’ genre that followed colonization. These structures do not hold perfectly in all situations. Some of the short riddles have 2 lines, some are in full verse of 4 lines (quatrains). Most have 7 syllables per line, but some have 6 or 8. Most rhyme at the end of the line, some do not. Some have independent lines, but most of the riddles do not (clearly the two separate lines are dependent on each other ie makes one full sentence). Few of these yet are one line 'sayings' (cauicaan) or 'proverbs' ('hibat') that don't really create an enigmatic effect like bugtongs but simply transmit wisdom in an allegorical sense.
I’ve considered adding the “metafores” “metaphors” (allegorical ‘sayings’ and phrases that Tagalogs used in daily speech the Spanish writers thought were important to note to show how these words in dictionaries were used) found in Delos Santos’ version of the Tagala dictionary, but I think I’ll just leave those for now. However I’ll used that version of Tagala dictionary to confirm some of the inferences I’ll make here.
Source: Noceda Y Sanlucar’s Vocabulario de Lengua Tagala (orig. 1754, this version from 1832/1860) I accessed via Google Books
Also used is Delos Santos’ Vocabulario (orig. 1703, this version 1835).
Occassional I also used the Proto-Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (website) on the annotations.
Format: Dictionary entry (from where the riddle was annotated). Orig. form from dictionary, (Modern Tagalog ortography), “My English translation of the Spanish trans. or explanation of the riddle” + Note: My annotation, or commentary. Words in [...] are words I inserted ie 'sic' 'Latin: thus' in the running of the original text ie to give better context for today's understanding.
I will not trans. the actual riddles into English unless given by the dictionary in Spanish (except the first). I am NOT a poet, and it is impossible for me to write the trans. in verse. One thing to note: Filipino and PH languages have a distinct 'linguistic' form…I can only translate (just as the noted authors could in Spanish and English) so much and still show the beauty of Tagalog language. Translation will be flawed and the intentional form of these riddles will not fully translate to English.
Bogtong (bugtong)- Adivinanza o cosi cosa. Magbogtong, adivinar y dar a adivinar asi. Pagbogtongan, a quien. Nacaturing, El que acerto. Nagbobogtongan, se dice de dos que se entienden, pero no se dan por entendidos…bogtongan, adivinanza, tambien una cadena de oro./ “Riddle or an enigma. Magbogtong, riddle and give a riddle like such. Pagbogtongan, to whom it is given. Nacaturing, one who guessed it correctly. Nagbobogtongan, a word used for two people who understand (the riddle) but are not understood (by others)…Bogtongan, a riddle but also means a gold chain.”
Note: The Spanish word ‘adivinar’ clearly is cognate with word 'divination'…I’m guessing because riddles in ancient Mediterranean cultures were associated with the ‘oracles’ or soothsayers who spoke in riddles.
Riddle 1: Bogtong del Bogtong/”Bogtong/riddle for the word ‘bogtong’ (ie only child)”
Naiysa isang anac,/Naisa isang anak
Ama,t, Ina,I, ualang olat./Ama’t, ina’y, walang ulat.
Porque al proponer al adivinanza dicen Bogtong co./”Because when they propose a riddle they say ‘Bogtong co’ (sic) similar to how they called their only child ‘bugtong ko’ ‘my only child’”.
Note: “For having an only child, the father and mother can’t count.”
Riddle 2:
Isang bogtong na bata,/Isang bugtong na bata
Di mabilang ang diua./’Di mabilang ang diwa.
Porque siendo una la palabra, tiene muchas significaciones./”Because (sic, despite) the word meaning ‘only’ ‘one’, it has multiple meanings.”
Note: Use of irony. Trans. “Despite being an only child, his myriad personalities couldn’t be counted.”
Bag-ang (bagang) “molar, ‘magbag-ang’ for them to come out”.
Riddle:
Guilingan sa linoob/Gilingan sa linuob
pinucsa ang nanasoc./Pinuksa ang nanasok.
Tambien significa no esta bien encajadas dos cosas: hindi nababag-ang/"It also means two things are not well matched: "Hindi nababag-ang".
Balacobac (balakubak) “dandruff on the head”
Riddle:
Di matingalang Bondoc/’Di matinghalang bundok
darac ang nacacamot./Darak ang nakakamot.
Note: Darak is rice bran.
Balang “locust…’matang balang’ [locust eyes] is used to describe a man who notices [ahead] disaster, ‘itlog balang’ [locust eggs], a type of rice”.
Riddle:
Apat capapang comot,/Apat kapapang kumot,
di natacpan ang tohod./Di’ natakpan ang tuhod.
Note: I think the word ‘kapapa’ here is rooted in ‘papa’ which is the width or hemming (today’s ‘lay-layan’). Per the Spanish explanation it probably also meant ‘legs sticking out of the blanket’. A metaphor also: ‘ang capapa co,i, asaua co’ trans. as ‘my wife is a piece of me’. It’s probably referring to the locust legs (apat) and the wings (kumot), which does not cover its knees.
Banig “mat made of dried reeds”
Riddle:
Bongbong con livanag/Bubong kung maliwanag
Con gaby,e, ay dagat./Kung gabi’y ay dagat.
Note: Obviously, similar to ‘carang’ (see below), wherein a mat is used for shade but at night you lay on top (like you float on the ocean). I do not know if “e” in this case is a compounded repetition of “ay” or it is “kung gabi eh ay dagat” which is also valid today but not considered formal in standard Tagalog. Likely ‘eh’ is added purposely to add another syllable to make the final line into 7 syllables. Also the first stanza is missing a syllable…perhaps the author forgot prefix ‘ma-’ that otherwise would’ve made both lines into 7 syllables.
Banlic (banlik) “what piles up and clogs a flow (of water)” Note: Per examples it usually meant soil/dirt or mud that clogs rivers and streams. ‘Banlic na lupa’ is translated as ‘fertile land’ likely because sediments brought by inundations/floods meant new top soil eg river farming like in the Nile.
Riddle:
Ang dagsa ang sinonong,/Ang dagsa ay sinunong
Nang may Bayang nagaampon./Nang may bayang nagaampon.
Note: Sonong (‘sunong’) means ‘to carry’. Dagsa means to ‘give’ or ‘throw/throw away’ (modern: ‘to flock elsewhere/somewhere’). Translates to ‘what is given/thrown away is carried to a new land that will adopt it’. I changed ‘ang’ to ‘ay’ because it obviously makes more sense in proper modern grammar without changing structure (albeit ‘ang’ used in this case, as it is in modern Tagalog, would be more prosaic). Perhaps also the author should’ve dropped the ‘may’ to make the syllables match the 7 syllable structure, as well as changing ‘nag-‘ to ‘mag-‘ i.e. future tense to make it grammatically true while keeping the meaning and structure.
Balac (balak) “spinning top, arrow” Note: Obviously this is the ancient term for ‘top’ now replaced by ‘turumpo’ from Sp. ‘trompo’.
Riddle:
Quinalag ang balacas/Kinalag ang balakas
Sumayao nang ylagpac./Sumayaw ng ilagpak.
Note: I think it’s intentional that ‘balac’ and ‘balacas’ (false knot, simple tie, to bundle up, to wrap, to wrap a dead body lol Aside: ancient Filipino mortuary practice = layers of wrapped blankets before putting in a coffin) are used in conjunction. Kalag, as today, means to ‘undo a knot or untie rope’.
Balita “news, novel, fame, rumor”
Riddle:
Namamalayo,y, narito,/Namamalayo’y narito
ang mey pacpac na ri tauo./Ang may pakpak na ‘di tao.
Note: Weirdly between the 1837 vs 1860 versions these written slightly different. ‘Mey’ vs ‘may’ and namamalyo,y, vs. namamalayo,i, (ie the newer version used the older ortography on the latter, but not on the former).
Barit “an herb/grass, prickly” Note: Leersia hexandra or rice cutgrass, a type of grass with spikelets, usually grows near rice paddies. Not to be confused with ‘Manila grass’ ie ‘barit-baritan’ ‘little barit’.
Riddle:
Nagpapanig nang umaga/Nagpapanig nung umaga,
Nang tanghali vala na. /Nang tanghali’y wala na.
Porque lastima solamente por la manana con la fresca: del que lastima con algun dicho, se dice: Barit nang barit ang bibig./”Because it only hurts in the morning when (sic) fresh barbs are ready…those hurt others by saying anything (without care) it is said ‘Barit nang barit ang bibig’ ‘Their mouths cut like cutgrass’”.
Bahoan (bahuan, bawan ???) “the bowsprit, the tip of a Galleon/ship, antenna…namamahoan means for the bowsprit to bring fresh breeze to the sail.” Note: The modern day trans. ‘verga’ is colloquial for ‘penis’. Also I trans. differently from the literal Sp. on the text; I am not a sailor but I don’t understand how the sail would bring breeze to the antenna, when it’s likely the antenna, being at the front of the ship, to create aerodynamics to the sail…but I could be wrong. The bowsprit sail is a feature in SEAsia ships, earliest known depiction is from Borubodur temple of Indonesia, less so than the Western ships which only really adopted, square rigged version, en-masse later on.
Riddle (…para la vela/”…bugtong for the sail ie bow spritsail”):
Sinantanan sa holo/Sinantanan sa hulo
hangin ang tinalaro/Hangin ang tinalaro
tinitimbang ang magaan/Tinitimbang ang magaan
nang di maralang timbangan./Ng ‘di madalang timbangan.
Note: Sinantanan per this dictionary is synonymous to ‘timbangan’ (place/tool used to measure weight). In Sp. ‘romano’ or ‘steelyard balance’ (the weight scale balance you see in depictions of justice). ‘Holo’ is inflection of ‘ulo’ but generally meant specifically for ‘river source’ ie ‘head of the river’. Talaro means ‘weight/counterweight, balance/counterbalance or ballast’ (tinalaro then mean ‘used as weight/balance’). ‘Maralang’ is likely modern ‘ma-dala-ng’ ‘to bring/take with’ ie ‘di maralang timbangan’ ‘a scale that cannot be taken’. The riddle is obviously alluding that the sail is like scale, using wind as ballast, despite that fact that it is ‘weightless’ (‘magaan’) and cannot be contained (‘hindi madala’). It’s also playing on multiple entendres of two homonyms ‘timbangan’ (one meaning ‘weight scale’ ‘place or thing where weight is taken’ and the other meaning ‘weight measurement’ ‘the act of weight something’). The first two lines are 7-7 syllables, the last two are 8-8.
Balangot “(a type of) sedge (cyperus malaccensis) (sic) that they use to thatch the churches with and thus spread on the ground…”
Ang latian sa bondoc/Ang latian sa bundok
Tinoboang balangot./Tinubuan ng balangot.
Para decir que traigan los postres en la mesa como dicen ‘mag, balangot na’ l. ‘balangotana’ y eso es lo que significa el bogtong./For when they bring food/goodies/desserts on the table they say ‘magbalangot na’ or ‘balangot na’ and this is the answer to the riddle.
Note: Latian means ‘swamp’, likely the riddle meant that ‘bundok’ is the table and the ‘latian’ are the bowls of food. These sedges, like other species of cattails, grow near water. I think 'how it spreads' is simple fact that cattails pods that are 'cotton like' and spreads thus. Up until 20th c. these are still used not only for thatching houses but also for creation of mats in certain regions.
Bintocohol (bintong kuhol ???)
Riddle:
Nonganang cohol, at binti/Nungganang kuhol at binti
cahoy, na cucupicupi./Kahoy na kukupa-kupi.
Cupi, es doblar como hojas de libro, asi crece el platano./Cupi, is to fold like pages of a book, this is how the banana grow.
Note: This is the weakest in construction out of all. Per Lumbera, about a branch being bent by the weight of a leg and a snail. Simply use puns of binto ('binti') and the word 'kuhol' with a clue that it is a kahoy 'wood' (implying it's a tree). Not all things are equal. But I surmise there is a cultural understanding that I nor Lumbera is understanding hinted by the text 'this is how the banana grows'.
Bitoin (bituin) “stars…bitoin may sombol (bituing may sumbol), a comet…Magpabitoin (magpabituin), to wait for stars to come out at night…Names of particular stars: Bulansaguan, tanglao daga, Macapanis, Balais, Balatic, Mapolon, Tala, May carang.”
Riddle:
Nang matacpa,y, naquita/Nung matapan ay nakita
Nang mabucsa,y, valana./Nang mabuksan ay wala na.
Note: Obviously meaning that 'buksan' 'to open' is sunlight, and 'takpan' 'to cover' as nightfall (playing on the irony that darkness reveals but light conceals).
Ancient Filipinos had different names for different stars and constellations. Many of them are listed in various dictionaries (these dictionaries included) and many more on accounts eg. Alcina’s Accounts, various 16th-17th accts. as well). They often were used by ancients for timekeeping eg planting, planning travel eg anticipating the storms, in religious manner eg divinations, and for navigation (star navigation or wayfaring). The names listed in this entry are just a few. Names I don’t know the equivalence in Western astronomy of the following: Bulansaguan (‘bulang sagwan’ this word means 'the froth of the water made when paddling [vigorously]' root word: bula 'foam' 'bubble'), and May carang (‘may karang’ ‘one with a roof’ likely ‘bangkang may karang’ ‘boat with an awning’).
Those that I know the equivalence: Macapanis (‘makapanis’ not sure the meaning---the root word 'panis' here, there's a connection to a Visayan terms for Venus eg Cebuano 'makabanglos' meaning to 'add acidic agent [like in pickling]' while in Waray has 'kapanosan' 'the state of being 'panis'/'rotten') is Alpha Bootis (el Bohotes) or the Arcturus ('Arturo') of the Bootis Constellation, Mapolon or Polon-polon (‘Mapulon’, ‘Pulon-pulon’ ‘flock of birds’ cognate with Tagalog ‘pulong’ ‘meeting’ orig. from PAN \puluŋ ‘collection, gathering’ likely from PAN *puluq₁ ‘group of ten’ from ‘pulu’ ‘ten’; originally Tagalog 'ten' is 'sampulu', base ten counting is used by most civilizations because each hand has 5 fingers...) is the Pleiades (‘Cabrillos’ '7 Goats') Constellation, Tala (per DS, ‘tala sa umaga’ ‘morning star’) is Venus (‘Lucero’ ‘Lucero de Alba’), although tanglaw daga (‘tanglaw ng daga’ ‘the rat’s torch’, in Kapampangan dictionary is it 'sulong dagis' 'rat's torch') is also the ‘planet Venus as seen in the position of the sun’ (I will narrate more on this distinction, also noted by our ancestors like the Western astronomers, on another post I'll make regarding terms for 'morning stars'---they are not stars at all but planets---why their positions matter).*
The most important one is balatic (‘balatik’ ‘pig trap’) generally recognized as “Orion’s Belt”. Names so because the trap requires 3 sticks on the ground to bend the spring trap with a spear in the end. However here and other accounts there’s also mention of ‘balais’ which means the same thing (‘valleston’ ‘ballista’) in Spanish but slightly different in Tagalog (crossbow vs. a pig spring trap, the entries even say ‘otro genero’ ‘another kind…’), but for some reason they’re attributed separately. In this dictionary, balatic is attributed to Las Marias ie Tres Marias (Three Mary’s which is Orion’s Belt). Balais is attributed to Las Marineras ‘The Sailors’, these are the 3 stars comprising the handle of the Little Dipper (including the North StaPolaris thus a navigation tool for sailors). In DS dictionary balatic is said to be “Astillejos” (‘The Twins’, Gemini) even with an annotation saying that it is part of 18 stars (Gemini really has 17) of the ‘tercer signo de esfera’ ‘3rd sign of the zodiac’. Also mentioned that the two stars Castor and Pollux shines brightly in the eastern skies at dawn. Alcina’s Historia and Lisboa’s Bicolano dictionary also attributes balatik as Gemini. Granted, Gemini and Orion constellations are so close that perhaps they were confused (???). Perhaps balais is Gemini, while balatic is Orion’s belt (or vice versa, albeit seems that balatic is very strongly associated with Orion’s Belt)…I don’t know if balatic or balais are different (their meaning as daily objects seems to have no difference in both dictionaries, esp. they’re both attributed for trapping/hunting pigs in both Tagala dictionaries) but weirdly attributed to two separate constellations.
Another mentioned is camalying (‘kamaliing’ from ‘liing’ ‘peripheral vision’) and pasil (‘the spinning top’)…both are names for ‘crucero en cielo…que en el sur…hacia en polo Antartico’ ‘the crucifix in the sky…of the south…which is in the Antarctic Pole’ ie Southern Cross. Likely ‘liing’ is used because it’s hard to see the Southern Cross in the Philippines most times of the year while pasil because of its shape (like a top).
All in all likely the ancient Filipinos, just like the Spanish, probably had multiple names for the same things (and perhaps used them differently for different purposes). Further reading on this is an amazing book Balatik: Filipino Ethonastronomy by the late Dr. Dante Ambrosio. Article on the catalogue of stars of various PH groups. I’m compiling a bunch of these for another time using different dictionaries.
Buga “to speak loudly or the snorting of animals”
Riddle:
Nacayiyipo ang bibig/Nakakaipo ang bibig
sa loob ay ualang tubig./Sa loob ay walang tubig.
Viento recio en la boca sin agua que rocie./”Strong wind coming out of the mouth without water to spray.”
Bogoc (bugok) ie “hollow or unfertilized egg”.
Nang magcolang ang caray/Nang magkulang ang karay
Sa Apoy na aalaman./Sa apoy na aalaman.
Porque a la luz se ve si esta guero el huevo./”Because in the light you can see if the egg is hollow.”
Note: “Caray, a satchel or bag with which the panday’s tools are carried.”
Boco (buko) x 1 ie “coconut”
Riddle:
Nang bata,i, ponong isip/Nang bata’y punong isip
Tomanda,i, colang bait./Tumanda’y kulang (sa) bait.
El entendimiento se toma por la agua del coco, que la tiene cuando chico, y cuando viejo se seca. Las edades del coco: bocabocahan, boco, alanyan, cacaloin, macasipolbonot, lolocarin, gomaan, camalog, malahipon, gango…/”The explanation of the riddle lies with ‘coconut water’, which when a coconut is a ‘young’ fruit ie ‘a child’ (sic) it is plentiful, but which when it gets ‘old’ it dries up. The age of coconut (sic) in this language: names listed above”.
Note: Metaphor for the skull/head as well as its contents ie the brain and thoughts.
Boco (buko) x 2, bogtong de la flo”riddle for its flower”
First:
Nang umaga,i, ticum pa,/Nang umaga’y tikum pa,
Nang mahapo,i, nabuca./Nang mahapo’y nabuka.
Second:
Nagcocomot nang puyat,/Nagkukumot ng puyat,
Saca na nahalachac./Saka na nahalakhak.
Note: Obviously this is talking about coconut ‘flower’/blossoms that blooms in the latter part of the day.
Boco (buko) x 3
Metaforicamente significa el hilo con tolondrones, la cabeza con chichones, y se conjuga por mag./”Metaphorically it means (sic) imperfections eg the thread with shags, (or) the head with bumps, the word is conjugated with prefix mag- ie magbuko.”
Ang galang cong hinobo,/Ang galang kung hinubo,
Hoso,yi, di mahoso/Huso’y ‘di mahuso.
Note: Clearly by the use of ‘hinubo’ ‘to strip naked’, buko in this context is the inner harder core once the husk is removed. ‘Hoso’ here have two meanings (also stated in dictionary entries). One is translated as ‘for the contents to come out because of poorly tied or secured container’, while another is ‘to put slip back in through an opening’. This riddle is like ‘Humpty Dumpty’ in meaning ie ‘can’t put back what was taken out’ (at least that’s my interpretation)…in this case it’s alluding to how one cannot or at least very hard to gain their dignity once stripped of them.
Bolo (bulo) “Fruit hair, gray hair, etc. sic any type not of the human body. Mabolo, hairy fruit. ‘Valang cabolohan or cabocabolohan’, means ‘it’s not worth a hair’.”
Bogtong del vello/”Riddle on the hair”.
Riddle:
Valan halaga con turan,/Walang halaga kung turan,
paaaroyan con hotan./Paarayan kung hutang.
Porque hace decir aroy en tocando el vello, que los hay que pican./”Because it makes (sic) someone say ‘aroy!’ say when touching the hair because there are some that prick.”
Note: ‘Turan’ ‘decir, determiner quien’ ‘to call out or determine who’ ie modern day ‘turing’. ‘Hotan’ ‘asirse’ ‘to grab’. Also interesting that the modern Tagalog word ‘kabuluhan’ ‘meaning’ 'definition' came from the literal meaning of ‘the condition of having hair’ ie 'having sense, value'.
Bongcalo (bungkalo) “fruit husk/pod”
Ang holog con tomanda,/Mahulog kung tumanda
marongauin nang bata./Madu(du)ngawin nang bata.
Porque maduras se caen, y verdes parece estan asomadas./”Because when ripe they fall, and the green (sic) of the fruit will show.”
Note: Another entry lists ‘bongcalo’ as ‘can’ (modern: canecillo) ‘corbel’ which are the pieces of wood that extends out of the building to support weight above it. Root word of ‘marungauin’ is ‘dongao’ (dungaw) ‘to peek out’…I’m not sure if it’s intentional whether those two ‘meanings’ ie ‘to peek out’ and ‘to stick out’ are puns in this poem since only each one in those entries each (words weren’t linked as synonyms).
Bulaclac (bulaklak) “toasted rice that burst into the form of a flower”
First:
Maputing Dalaga/Maputing dalaga
nagtatalic sa lila./Nagtatalik sa lila
Second:
Sinolot ni mapula,/Sinulot ni mapula
siya,y, tomaratara./Siya’y tumalatala (???)
Note: Talic means (not that talik lmao) “to move gracefully their hands when they dance” or for a “woman to dance as if braced” (meaning delicate, conserved movements). Lila is “a pot”. In other words “rice dancing gracefully in a pot”. The second example the ‘mapula’ likely meant fire, sulot means ‘to put inside of a hole’ or ‘to put between two things like between hands’ and although I don’t know what tumala means by context it likely means ‘moving around’.
Bulac talahib (bulaklak ng talahib) “flower of the talahib grass (Saccharum spontaneum)”
Riddle:
Bulac talahib ang sonong,/Bulak(lak) talahib ang sunong,
ang ayami,y, calatondong./Ang ayami’y kalatundong.
Quiere decir: viejo verde que anda en mocedades./”It means: a dirty (old man) who walks around the young (women).”
Note: Sonong means ‘to put one over the other’ or ‘to carry a thing over one’s head’. Ayami means ‘light food’ ‘snack’ (modern day Sp. borrowing 'merienda'). Calatondong is ‘an herb with scented leaves’. Viejo verde is a euphemism for “green old (man)” (where we get the term “green minded”). I don’t know if this is pre or post-colonial because ‘viejo verde’ is a Spanish concept. The meaning is likely that despite being an ‘undesirable’ grass, his preferred choice is a desirable herb (use of leafy plants alluding to the ‘green’ concept).
Continued Here

Points for a Beginning Poem Writer
Directions for Mobile Editing and Poem Formatting
First off, here’s directions for if you don’t know how to edit: If you are on the post: in the top right corner of your phone there should be three dots. You click on the three dots and a new thing will pop up. There will be many options, you want to click on “Edit post” when you are done, click the word “done.”
Heres the directions for formatting: Put in your first line. Click return once, then a second time. Put in your next line (Repeat). When you want to show a change in stanza click return twice again, then add a period, dash, slant, or basically any punctuation you want. After you put in the punctuation press return twice again.

Places to Submit
Places to Submit without having to review:
Poems
JustPoetry
creativewriting
poem_a_day
poetryreading
Poet
haiku
Places to Submit with Review:
OCPoetry
poetry_critics

Need help with what to say in a review?
Give a Compliment
I like it!
Beautiful job!
You’ve done amazing!
Loving this vibe!
Talk about your favorite part
A line in the poem
Title of the work
If there’s repetition, alliteration, allusion, metaphors, similes, caesura, diction, end-stop lines, imagery, rhymes, near rhymes, onomatopoeia, paradox, and/or good syntax
Critique (if needed)
Could be a small grammatical error
Maybe a different work will sound better in a spot
Should add something to emphasize a point
If something needs further clarification
End with a positive remark
Thank you for sharing!
I hope to read some of your work again!

Here are some Terms
(Sorry for possible bad formatting in this section)
Enjambment: - the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.
First person is the I/we perspective. Second person is the you perspective. Third person is the he/she/it/they perspective.
Line: one sentence
Couplet: 2 lines put together
Stanza: a group of line usually with a recurring metric use l, separated by a line break
Repetition: - repeating something multiple times
Poetry Types: * Free Style - a poem with no specific metric use in mind when creating it. Could be all of the place. Has no guidelines. * Haiku - 5/7/5 syllable pattern or a more uncommon 3/5/3 syllable pattern.
Alliteration: The repetition of identical consonant sounds, most often the sounds beginning words, in close proximity. Example: pensive poets, nattering nabobs of negativism.
Allusion: Unacknowledged reference and quotations that authors assume their readers will recognize.
Anaphora: Repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of a line throughout a work or the section of a work.
Apostrophe: Speaker in a poem addresses a person not present or an animal, inanimate object, or concept as though it is a person. Example: Wordsworth--"Milton! Thou shouldst be living at this hour / England has need of thee"
Assonance: The repetition of identical vowel sounds in different words in close proximity. Example: deep green sea.
Ballad: A narrative poem composed of quatrains (iambic tetrameter alternating with iambic trimeter) rhyming x-a-x-a. Ballads may use refrains. Examples: "Jackaroe," "The Long Black Veil"
Blank verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter. Example: Shakespeare's plays
Caesura: A short but definite pause used for effect within a line of poetry. Carpe diem poetry: "seize the day." Poetry concerned with the shortness of life and the need to act in or enjoy the present. Example: Herrick’s "To the Virgins to Make Much of Time"
Chiasmus (antimetabole): Chiasmus is a "crossing" or reversal of two elements; antimetabole, a form of chiasmus, is the reversal of the same words in a grammatical structure. Example: Ask not what your country can do for you; ask wyat you can do for your country. Example: You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.
Common meter or hymn measure (Emily Dickinson): iambic tetrameter alternating with iambic trimeter. Other example: "Amazing Grace" by John Newton http://www.constitution.org/col/amazing_grace.htm
Consonanceis the counterpart of assonance; the partial or total identity of consonants in words whose main vowels differ. Example: shadow meadow; pressed, passed; sipped, supped. Owen uses this "impure rhyme" to convey the anguish of war and death.
Couplet: two successive rhyming lines. Couplets end the pattern of a Shakespearean sonnet.
Diction: Diction is usually used to describe the level of formality that a speaker uses. * Diction (formal or high): Proper, elevated, elaborate, and often polysyllabic language. This type of language used to be thought the only type suitable for poetry * Neutral or middle diction: Correct language characterized by directness and simplicity. * Diction (informal or low): Relaxed, conversational and familiar language.
Dramatic monologue: A type of poem, derived from the theater, in which a speaker addresses an internal listener or the reader. In some dramatic monologues, especially those by Robert Browning, the speaker may reveal his personality in unexpected and unflattering ways.
End-stopped line: A line ending in a full pause, usually indicated with a period or semicolon.
Enjambment (or enjambement): A line having no end punctuation but running over to the next line.
Explication: A complete and detailed analysis of a work of literature, often word-by-word and line-by-line.
Foot (prosody): A measured combination of heavy and light stresses. The numbers of feet are given below. monometer (1 foot) dimeter (2 feet) trimeter (3 feet) tetrameter (4 feet) pentameter (5 feet) hexameter (6 feet) heptameter or septenary (7 feet)
Heroic couplet: two successive rhyming lines of iambic pentameter; the second line is usually end-stopped.
Hymn meter or common measure: quatrains of iambic tetrameter alternating with iambic trimeter rhyming a b a b.
Hyperbole (overstatement) and litotes (understatement): Hyperbole is exaggeration for effect; litotes is understatement for effect, often used for irony.
Iambic pentameter: Iamb (iambic): an unstressed stressed foot.The most natural and common kind of meter in English; it elevates speech to poetry.
Image: Images are references that trigger the mind to fuse together memories of sight (visual), sounds (auditory), tastes (gustatory), smells (olfactory), and sensations of touch (tactile). Imagery refers to images throughout a work or throughout the works of a writer or group of writers.
Internal rhyme: An exact rhyme (rather than rhyming vowel sounds, as with assonance) within a line of poetry: "Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary."
Metaphor: A comparison between two unlike things, this describes one thing as if it were something else. Does not use "like" or "as" for the comparison (see simile).
Metaphysical conceit: An elaborate and extended metaphor or simile that links two apparently unrelated fields or subjects in an unusual and surprising conjunction of ideas. The term is commonly applied to the metaphorical language of a number of early seventeenth-century poets, particularly John Donne. Example: stiff twin compasses//the joining together of lovers like legs of a compass. See "To His Coy Mistress"
Meter: The number of feet within a line of traditional verse. Example: iambic pentameter.
Octave: The first eight lines of an Italian or Petrarchan sonnet, unified by rhythm, rhyme, and topic.
Onomatopoeia. A blending of consonant and vowel sounds designed to imitate or suggest the activity being described. Example: buzz, slurp.
Paradox: A rhetorical figure embodying a seeming contradiction that is nonetheless true.
Personification: Attributing human characteristics to nonhuman things or abstractions.
Petrarchan sonnet: A sonnet (14 lines of rhyming iambic pentameter) that divides into an octave (8) and sestet (6). There is a "volta," or "turning" of the subject matter between the octave and sestet.
Pyrrhic foot (prosody): two unstressed feet (an "empty" foot) Quatrain: a four-line stanza or poetic unit. In an English or Shakespearean sonnet, a group of four lines united by rhyme.
Refrain: repeated word or series of words in response or counterpoint to the main verse, as in a ballad.
Rhyme: The repetition of identical concluding syllables in different words, most often at the ends of lines. Example: June--moon. * Double rhyme or trochaic rhyme: rhyming words of two syllables in which the first syllable is accented (flower, shower) * Triple rhyme or dactylic rhyme: Rhyming words of three or more syllables in which any syllable but the last is accented. Example: Macavity/gravity/depravity * Eye rhyme: Words that seem to rhyme because they are spelled identically but pronounced differently. Example: beafear, dough/cough/through/bough * Slant rhyme: A near rhyme in which the concluding consonant sounds are identical but not the vowels. Example: sun/noon, should/food, slim/ham. * Rhyme scheme: The pattern of rhyme, usually indicated by assigning a letter of the alphabet to each rhyme at the end of a line of poetry.
Rhyme royal: Stanza form used by Chaucer, usually in iambic pentameter, with the rhyme scheme ababbcc. Example: Wordsworth's "Resolution and Independence"
Scan (scansion): the process of marking beats in a poem to establish the prevailing metrical pattern. Prosody, the pronunciation of a song or poem, is necessary for scansion. (Go to the "Introduction to Prosody" page or try the scansion quiz.). Stressed syllables are in caps. * Anapest: unstressed unstressed stressed. Also called "galloping meter." Example: 'Twas the NIGHT before CHRISTmas, and ALL through the HOUSE/ Not a CREAture was STIRring, not EVen a MOUSE." * Dactyl (dactylic) stressed unstressed unstressed. This pattern is more common (as dactylic hexameter) in Latin poetry than in English poetry. (Emphasized syllables are in caps. Some of the three-syllable words below are natural dactyls: firmaments, practical, tacticalExample: GRAND go the YEARS in the CREScent aBOVE them/WORLDS scoop their ARCS/ and FIRMaments ROW (Emily Dickinson, "Safe in their Alabaster Chambers") Example: No one has more resilience / Or matches my PRAC-ti-cal TAC-ti-cal brilliance (Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton) * Spondee: stressed stressed. A two-syllable foot with two stressed accents. The opposite of a pyrrhic foot, this foot is used for effect. * Trochee (trochaic): stressed unstressed. Example: "Tyger! Tyger! Burning bright"
Sestet: A six-line stanza or unit of poetry.
Shakespearean sonnet: A fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter, composed of three quatrains and a couplet rhyming abab cdcd efef gg.
Simile. A direct comparison between two dissimilar things; uses "like" or "as" to state the terms of the comparison.
Sonnet: A closed form consisting of fourteen lines of rhyming iambic pentameter. Shakespearean or English sonnet: 3 quatrains and a couplet, often with three arguments or images in the quatrains being resolved in the couplet. Rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef gg Petrarchan or Italian sonnet: 8 lines (the "octave") and 6 lines (the "sestet") of rhyming iambic pentameter, with a turning or "volta" at about the 8th line. Rhyme scheme: abba abba cdcdcd (or cde cde)
Stanza: A group of poetic lines corresponding to paragraphs in prose; the meters and rhymes are usually repeating or systematic.
Synaesthesia: A rhetorical figure that describes one sensory impression in terms of a different sense, or one perception in terms of a totally different or even opposite feeling. Example: "darkness visible" "green thought"
Syntax: Word order and sentence structure.
Volta: The "turning" point of a Petrarchan sonnet, usually occurring between the octave and the sestet.

How to make things Bold, italics, strike through, etc. on mobile

Directions for Mobile Editing and Poem Formatting
First off, here’s directions for if you don’t know how to edit: If you are on the post: in the top right corner of your phone there should be three dots. You click on the three dots and a new thing will pop up. There will be many options, you want to click on “Edit post” when you are done, click the word “done.”
Heres the directions for formatting: Put in your first line. Click return once, then a second time. Put in your next line (Repeat). When you want to show a change in stanza click return twice again, then add a period, dash, slant, or basically any punctuation you want. After you put in the punctuation press return twice again.
Another way to format (without ./-) is to put the letters and numbers & # x 2 0 0 B ; without any of the spaces. This will add a new stanza.

Places to Submit
Places to Submit without having to review:
Poems
JustPoetry
creativewriting
poem_a_day
poetryreading
Poet
haiku
Places to Submit with Review:
OCPoetry
poetry_critics

Need help with what to say in a review?
Give a Compliment
I like it!
Beautiful job!
You’ve done amazing!
Loving this vibe!
Talk about your favorite part
A line in the poem
Title of the work
If there’s repetition, alliteration, allusion, metaphors, similes, caesura, diction, end-stop lines, imagery, rhymes, near rhymes, onomatopoeia, paradox, and/or good syntax
Critique (if needed)
Could be a small grammatical error
Maybe a different word will sound better in a spot
Should add something to emphasize a point
If something needs further clarification
End with a positive remark
Thank you for sharing!
I hope to read some of your work again!

Terms you may want to know
**Sources: my own knowledge and Public.WSU.edu
Enjambment: - the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.
First person is the I/we perspective. Second person is the you perspective. Third person is the he/she/it/they perspective.
Line: one sentence
Couplet: 2 lines put together
Stanza: a group of line usually with a recurring metric use l, separated by a line break
Repetition: - repeating something multiple times
Poetry Types: * Free Style - a poem with no specific metric use in mind when creating it. Could be all of the place. Has no guidelines. * Haiku - 5/7/5 syllable pattern or a more uncommon 3/5/3 syllable pattern.
Alliteration: The repetition of identical consonant sounds, most often the sounds beginning words, in close proximity. Example: pensive poets, nattering nabobs of negativism.
Allusion: Unacknowledged reference and quotations that authors assume their readers will recognize.
Anaphora: Repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of a line throughout a work or the section of a work.
Apostrophe: Speaker in a poem addresses a person not present or an animal, inanimate object, or concept as though it is a person. Example: Wordsworth--"Milton! Thou shouldst be living at this hour / England has need of thee"
Assonance: The repetition of identical vowel sounds in different words in close proximity. Example: deep green sea.
Ballad: A narrative poem composed of quatrains (iambic tetrameter alternating with iambic trimeter) rhyming x-a-x-a. Ballads may use refrains. Examples: "Jackaroe," "The Long Black Veil"
Blank verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter. Example: Shakespeare's plays
Caesura: A short but definite pause used for effect within a line of poetry. Carpe diem poetry: "seize the day." Poetry concerned with the shortness of life and the need to act in or enjoy the present. Example: Herrick’s "To the Virgins to Make Much of Time"
Chiasmus (antimetabole): Chiasmus is a "crossing" or reversal of two elements; antimetabole, a form of chiasmus, is the reversal of the same words in a grammatical structure. Example: Ask not what your country can do for you; ask wyat you can do for your country. Example: You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.
Common meter or hymn measure (Emily Dickinson): iambic tetrameter alternating with iambic trimeter. Other example: "Amazing Grace" by John Newton http://www.constitution.org/col/amazing_grace.htm
Consonanceis the counterpart of assonance; the partial or total identity of consonants in words whose main vowels differ. Example: shadow meadow; pressed, passed; sipped, supped. Owen uses this "impure rhyme" to convey the anguish of war and death.
Couplet: two successive rhyming lines. Couplets end the pattern of a Shakespearean sonnet.
Diction: Diction is usually used to describe the level of formality that a speaker uses. * Diction (formal or high): Proper, elevated, elaborate, and often polysyllabic language. This type of language used to be thought the only type suitable for poetry * Neutral or middle diction: Correct language characterized by directness and simplicity. * Diction (informal or low): Relaxed, conversational and familiar language.
Dramatic monologue: A type of poem, derived from the theater, in which a speaker addresses an internal listener or the reader. In some dramatic monologues, especially those by Robert Browning, the speaker may reveal his personality in unexpected and unflattering ways.
End-stopped line: A line ending in a full pause, usually indicated with a period or semicolon.
Enjambment (or enjambement): A line having no end punctuation but running over to the next line.
Explication: A complete and detailed analysis of a work of literature, often word-by-word and line-by-line.
Foot (prosody): A measured combination of heavy and light stresses. The numbers of feet are given below. monometer (1 foot) dimeter (2 feet) trimeter (3 feet) tetrameter (4 feet) pentameter (5 feet) hexameter (6 feet) heptameter or septenary (7 feet)
Heroic couplet: two successive rhyming lines of iambic pentameter; the second line is usually end-stopped.
Hymn meter or common measure: quatrains of iambic tetrameter alternating with iambic trimeter rhyming a b a b.
Hyperbole (overstatement) and litotes (understatement): Hyperbole is exaggeration for effect; litotes is understatement for effect, often used for irony.
Iambic pentameter: Iamb (iambic): an unstressed stressed foot.The most natural and common kind of meter in English; it elevates speech to poetry.
Image: Images are references that trigger the mind to fuse together memories of sight (visual), sounds (auditory), tastes (gustatory), smells (olfactory), and sensations of touch (tactile). Imagery refers to images throughout a work or throughout the works of a writer or group of writers.
Internal rhyme: An exact rhyme (rather than rhyming vowel sounds, as with assonance) within a line of poetry: "Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary."
Metaphor: A comparison between two unlike things, this describes one thing as if it were something else. Does not use "like" or "as" for the comparison (see simile).
Metaphysical conceit: An elaborate and extended metaphor or simile that links two apparently unrelated fields or subjects in an unusual and surprising conjunction of ideas. The term is commonly applied to the metaphorical language of a number of early seventeenth-century poets, particularly John Donne. Example: stiff twin compasses//the joining together of lovers like legs of a compass. See "To His Coy Mistress"
Meter: The number of feet within a line of traditional verse. Example: iambic pentameter.
Octave: The first eight lines of an Italian or Petrarchan sonnet, unified by rhythm, rhyme, and topic.
Onomatopoeia. A blending of consonant and vowel sounds designed to imitate or suggest the activity being described. Example: buzz, slurp.
Paradox: A rhetorical figure embodying a seeming contradiction that is nonetheless true.
Personification: Attributing human characteristics to nonhuman things or abstractions.
Petrarchan sonnet: A sonnet (14 lines of rhyming iambic pentameter) that divides into an octave (8) and sestet (6). There is a "volta," or "turning" of the subject matter between the octave and sestet.
Pyrrhic foot (prosody): two unstressed feet (an "empty" foot) Quatrain: a four-line stanza or poetic unit. In an English or Shakespearean sonnet, a group of four lines united by rhyme.
Refrain: repeated word or series of words in response or counterpoint to the main verse, as in a ballad.
Rhyme: The repetition of identical concluding syllables in different words, most often at the ends of lines. Example: June--moon. * Double rhyme or trochaic rhyme: rhyming words of two syllables in which the first syllable is accented (flower, shower) * Triple rhyme or dactylic rhyme: Rhyming words of three or more syllables in which any syllable but the last is accented. Example: Macavity/gravity/depravity * Eye rhyme: Words that seem to rhyme because they are spelled identically but pronounced differently. Example: beafear, dough/cough/through/bough * Slant rhyme: A near rhyme in which the concluding consonant sounds are identical but not the vowels. Example: sun/noon, should/food, slim/ham. * Rhyme scheme: The pattern of rhyme, usually indicated by assigning a letter of the alphabet to each rhyme at the end of a line of poetry.
Rhyme royal: Stanza form used by Chaucer, usually in iambic pentameter, with the rhyme scheme ababbcc. Example: Wordsworth's "Resolution and Independence"
Scan (scansion): the process of marking beats in a poem to establish the prevailing metrical pattern. Prosody, the pronunciation of a song or poem, is necessary for scansion. (Go to the "Introduction to Prosody" page or try the scansion quiz.). Stressed syllables are in caps. * Anapest: unstressed unstressed stressed. Also called "galloping meter." Example: 'Twas the NIGHT before CHRISTmas, and ALL through the HOUSE/ Not a CREAture was STIRring, not EVen a MOUSE." * Dactyl (dactylic) stressed unstressed unstressed. This pattern is more common (as dactylic hexameter) in Latin poetry than in English poetry. (Emphasized syllables are in caps. Some of the three-syllable words below are natural dactyls: firmaments, practical, tacticalExample: GRAND go the YEARS in the CREScent aBOVE them/WORLDS scoop their ARCS/ and FIRMaments ROW (Emily Dickinson, "Safe in their Alabaster Chambers") Example: No one has more resilience / Or matches my PRAC-ti-cal TAC-ti-cal brilliance (Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton) * Spondee: stressed stressed. A two-syllable foot with two stressed accents. The opposite of a pyrrhic foot, this foot is used for effect. * Trochee (trochaic): stressed unstressed. Example: "Tyger! Tyger! Burning bright"
Sestet: A six-line stanza or unit of poetry.
Shakespearean sonnet: A fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter, composed of three quatrains and a couplet rhyming abab cdcd efef gg.
Simile. A direct comparison between two dissimilar things; uses "like" or "as" to state the terms of the comparison.
Sonnet: A closed form consisting of fourteen lines of rhyming iambic pentameter. Shakespearean or English sonnet: 3 quatrains and a couplet, often with three arguments or images in the quatrains being resolved in the couplet. Rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef gg Petrarchan or Italian sonnet: 8 lines (the "octave") and 6 lines (the "sestet") of rhyming iambic pentameter, with a turning or "volta" at about the 8th line. Rhyme scheme: abba abba cdcdcd (or cde cde)
Stanza: A group of poetic lines corresponding to paragraphs in prose; the meters and rhymes are usually repeating or systematic.
Synaesthesia: A rhetorical figure that describes one sensory impression in terms of a different sense, or one perception in terms of a totally different or even opposite feeling. Example: "darkness visible" "green thought"
Syntax: Word order and sentence structure.
Volta: The "turning" point of a Petrarchan sonnet, usually occurring between the octave and the sestet.