BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet

Subject: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 17 Nov 10 - 05:28 PM

Republican or royalist, I'd trouble you,
Despite the present climate so austere,
To celebrate with optimistic cheer
The engagement of Katie and Prince W.

Now, all true lovers call each other silly
Names: our William, we learn,
Calls Kate his Babykins; while she, in turn,
Addresses His Royal Highness as Big Willie.

And now we'll have to wait while he & she
Decide the date for ritual matrimonial—
Indubitable peak of ceremonial!—
At some time in the year that is to be.

We hope that they will have a pleasant day for it.
(But just don't expect us to pay for it.)

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: beardedbruce
Date: 17 Nov 10 - 06:17 PM

hardly iambic pentameter...

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: Bill D
Date: 17 Nov 10 - 06:29 PM

vaguely Dactylic hexameter...with odd variables

But I'm sure the royal couple will be pleased. Perhaps done in needlepoint...

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: meself
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 09:34 AM

I like the rhyme of 'trouble you' and 'W.' ....

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 09:45 AM

Will Americans pronounce it "Trubya" & "Dubya"?

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: GUEST,erbert
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 09:46 AM

my celebratory poem has stalled trying to find an adequate rhyme
for a line ending

"..the Royal Palace of Buckingham" ???

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 09:52 AM

I think a more positive note is called for.

An accomplished effort, Steve; and quite near enough to iambic pentameter to satisfy any but the most over-precise. And with a most praiseworthily epigrammatic final couplet.

Definitely α- at the very least; should probably be straight α at that.

Congratulations.

~Michael~

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 10:23 AM

A slightly McGonnagellish approach to metre...

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: Stu
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 11:06 AM

When pondering her marriage to Will
Kate thought "it'll be such a thrill
I can have a big bash
costing buckets of cash
'cause the public will pick up the bill!"

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 11:50 AM

Ah, well ... if I'd been trying for a song, or even a serious pome, I'd have taken more trouble with the scansion. 'The guidance of wise men' & all that. Anyway, if Henri Rousseau was a painter, William McGonagle was a poet.

Nice Limerick, Jack! Anyone else going to have a go?

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 03:45 PM

Steve - This seems the right thread for a comment on an interview on telly with the pair.
In the interview, William commented that he had waited some length of time until he found the right moment to propose. He had wanted to "get it right" because (and this is by no means an accurate quote of the words) "you hear so many horror stories about proposals going wrong".
Bearing in mind that he is a royal prince, I did wonder what stories he had heard. Did they involve fingers being pricked on spinning wheels, fighting dragons, sudden transformation into frogs, piles of mattresses and uncomfortable peas?
Perhaps someone ought to point out to him that although such dire consequences used to happen once upon a time, they seldom happen to princes these days...
Quack!
Geoff the Duck.

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 04:54 PM

Here's a ballade (the rhymes are questionable at times, but with a verse structure that requires 13 words to rhyme with slave...)

The Times were hard, the times looked very grave
Little to hope for, everything to fear,
Then from his door rushed out a smiling Dave,
"A Royal Wedding will take place next year
Rejoice good people - brush aside a tear -
Forget your troubles on this happy day."
One thing at least, we were not born to wear
These chains of gold, as wealthiest of slaves.

Once more proceeds the pantomime we crave,
The transformation scene we all can share,
All play a part, ours is to cheer and wave.
The curtain rises, see the happy pair,
Charming Prince Will and Katherine the fair,
For our delight, as always is the way,
Don once again, while thousands stand and cheer,
The chains of gold, as wealthiest of slaves.

It seems to me the lady must be brave.
The precedents indeed are passing drear,
A fairy tale that fortune could not save,
An ending that was messy and unclear.
But turn your mind from that unhappy shade
A crown awaits, and hanging for you there
The chains of gold, as wealthiest of slaves.

Prince, and Princess, your situation's queer,
A life laid out from cradle to the grave.
Do what you will, you cannot choose but bear
Your chains of gold, the wealthiest of slaves.

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 05:50 PM

Oh, what can I do but gasp in admiration! McG (sorry, I've forgotten your first name ... my brain is going soft), I don't know if anybody can come up to that standard (but you never know.)

I'm not a big fan of the Royals myself, although I like the idea of having a had of state who didn't go after the job. I hope they have more luck together than most of his family. She's very thin though; I wonder if she eats properly? You know what it's like with young people today.

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: Van
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 05:52 PM

I've worked at this for years
Said Katie through emotional tears
St Andrews, art history,
It all was a mistery
But it still brought him closer to me

I got close to my honey
Fell in love with his money
Almost boiled his bunny
And in the end
My friend
He
Belongs
To me

Spare cash
Car crash
Let's enjoy the Royal Bash
It's you are paying after all
But sadly you can't come to the ball


Not really a sonnet;)

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: Leadfingers
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 07:53 PM

Pardon me , but I thought a 'Sonnet' was a fourteen line verse form !

http://www.baymoon.com/~ariadne/form/sonnet.htm

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 03:30 AM

"...hardly iambic pentameter..."

Ooeeeee don't we know big words! (rolling eyes up to heaven,sighing, smiley)

Very good, Steve. I enjoyed that very much. To hell with keeping inside the pedantic perimeters of poncey pentameters, let alone keeping on the right side of those who live their lives measuring everyone else by millimetres of minutia which normal folk couldn't actually give a shite about...

Out with rules and regulation!
In with words of celebration!

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: Tannywheeler
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 12:13 PM

Well, Shakespeare was a Brit. We're all Johnny-come-latelys over on this side of the pond, but many of us spend lots of money to visit there because of the preservation of the historic line. Once I was visiting in the Cambridge, Mass. area & stopped to observe a house with a plaque stating it was the home of some famous philosopher/writer of the early 1800s. I remember being impressed that it was almost 200yrs. old. Later I visited in Ireland & saw buildings still in use that were going concerns before Columbus or St. Brendan or whoever stubbed his toe on the Western Hemisphere. I remember thinking that the house in Cambridge MA was ONLY 200.

I'm with whoever expressed the wish that they be happier than his parents for a lot longer. I'm with hubby 44+ yrs now--not all fabulous, but I'm glad we each stuck it out & am planning to keep on. He's pretty reliable & I'm more happy than not. Can't wish them more than that. Tw

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: Van
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 12:31 PM

Leadfingers
If you had read far enough you might have noticed that I said that it was not a sonnet.

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: beardedbruce
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 12:43 PM

Sonnet 24/01/02                        DCL

A sonnet is a frozen tear, a kiss,
Preserved in fourteen lines. It is a pearl
Of layered thought, a gem too bright to miss
When set on page: One blossom, to unfurl
To perfect flower. As amber, sealed soul
In timeless tomb, it can show time long past,
Or hold this instant in it's grasp. The whole
Of heart upon one single page, to last
Beyond even our dreams, it seems a sip,
Distilled to essence. Refined within mind,
Lines sing sweet song, and rhymes in patterns slip,
To weave image that leaves mere vision blind.
A single chord, to resound in one's heart:
Echo of past that might our future start.

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: olddude
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 12:54 PM

So far here in the states it has been non stop giddy on the TV about what she will wear and who will go and and and ... Hey never mind we have a failing economy and two wars ... what is happening with the Prince is far more important ..

Now fun is fun ... sure it is nice for everyone to see ... but 24/7 coverage is enough to drive ya nuts !!

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 01:03 PM

So who is holding a gun to your head to make your follow it 24/7, Dan? Just don't click on these threads if they irritate you so much. Simple...

Or didn't you think of that?

All best

~M~

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: beardedbruce
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 01:10 PM

Lizzie,

It is a nice verse- BUT IT IS NOT A GOOD SONNET!

IF one calls something a specific form, it should be in that form.




If I call my viola a guitar, does that give it 2 more strings????

As a poem, I like it- but as a sonnet it has serious flaws.

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: gnu
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 01:30 PM

"Anyone else going to have a go?"

I assume William already has.

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: Lox
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 03:22 PM

"pedantic perimeters of poncey pentameters"

Your finest monent in a long time ...

... though I would have said "pedantic parAmeters" ...

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: olddude
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 03:31 PM

No they are not forcing me to watch it ... but my nightly news is non stop engagement. How about more news perhaps ... is that too much to ask. I very happy for him, sure, I think it is wonderful. But also want to know what the heck is going on elsewhere also. 10 minutes of the engagement and 10 seconds on the wars ... doesn't quite seem right for a new cast. Maybe over exaggerating a bit but that sure seems like the case. I have a lot of respect for Diana's kids ... I am happy for them, but put the emphasis where it belongs when giving news casts.

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: gnu
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 03:40 PM

But, it's news. The "war" is old news. Sad but true.

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: olddude
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 03:45 PM

suspect you are right GNU, and by the way, the hollywood access and entertainment tonight, sure ... I would rather see them talk about something nice instead of some actress abusing drugs again. Just keep it in perspective when presenting the news broadcasts. Last night it was Obama is off to a NATO summit to talk about arms reduction ... now back to our engagement coverage ...

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 04:15 PM

Interesting indeed that u-lot over there are getting so much coverage. So 1776 was all in vain, huh? We over here have always suspected it. Give us back our 13 Colonies!.

~M~

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: beardedbruce
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 04:21 PM

We come with that $13+ TRILLION in debt, you know...

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: olddude
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 04:30 PM

Agree you take the debt, you can have it...

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 04:31 PM

Nice one McGrath but I think she's actually a Catherine.... hence the dilemma about whether the buns to be thrown in Abingdon should bear the happy couple's initials (W, C,.....)

Kitty

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 04:34 PM

That's a pretty good sonnet beardedbruce!
.......................

Just as well this Kate wasn't an American...

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 04:44 PM

>>>Lizzie,

It is a nice verse- BUT IT IS NOT A GOOD SONNET!
IF one calls something a specific form, it should be in that form.
If I call my viola a guitar, does that give it 2 more strings????
As a poem, I like it- but as a sonnet it has serious flaws.<<<


Sigh.....yaddayaddayadda...

Oh God of Pedantry, I thank Ye for allowing me to be a Bear of Little Brain, who does not know her sonnet from her bonnet, nor her verse from her nurse. But...if my nurse wore her sonnet, would the verse become a bonnet? Or would she have to wear her bonnet to thus spake the word of sonnet? Oh! was Will ever so perplexed? Or unnecessary vexed? Was his sonnet on his head when at last he went to bed? Did the curse of the nurse cause the sonnet to be worse? Or was the bonnet just a sonnet spoken backwards in reverse?



(don't ask me what the *hell* that is, for gawd's sake...!) ;0)






Thank you, Lox..and yes, I like your correction..

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 05:14 PM

Is it pedantic to find the distinction between chalk and cheese quite useful? For example when writing on a blackboard are making a sandwich?

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 05:15 PM

Is it pedantic to find the distinction between chalk and cheese quite useful? For example when writing on a blackboard or making a sandwich?

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 05:24 PM

How much nicer it would have been in my teachers had used blackboard cheese. Oh, to be spared the awful screech of chalk upon board, making one's nerves ringle and tingle to the very core of your being..

And how useful to be able to write secret messages in your sandwiches!
Appointments with Mistresses could be made whilst chomping on the Branston Pickle, swallowing the evidence down so innocently..

Think how many little mice would still be alive today, had cheese only come into contact with blackboards and not floorboards...

Oh the Sadness of Me and Mice and Men...


And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to apply my bonnet, take up my chalk and write a Sandwich Sonnet...

;0)

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 06:18 PM

13,000,000,000,000 ... I'm sorry, but on this side that would be thirteen billion, not thirteen trillion!

Or would have been when I was a lad; but enough pedantry!

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: Leadfingers
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 09:14 PM

Just did a count up ! Wednesdays Torygraph had FORTY ONE Photos of Ms Middleton scattered through it ! As well as a complete page discussing the 'possible' dress !!

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 20 Nov 10 - 11:57 AM

Just a thought, Leadfingers: why not make that~~


"Just did a count
up ! Wednesdays Torygraph had

FORTY ONE Photos of Ms

Middleton scattered through it
!
As well as a complete page discussing the 'possible'

dress !! "


Vers libre, dontcha-no!

Like I say ~~ just a thought.

~M~

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: Charley Noble
Date: 20 Nov 10 - 12:55 PM

Steve-

Nice work and clearly an inspiration to others. I like the line:

Indubitable peak of ceremonial!

For me the wedding can't happen soon enough. Then I will know the world is alright and no one needs to worry about the economy, the wars, or the environment. Sure wish we had someone significant to marry off in the States!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 20 Nov 10 - 04:13 PM

Well I'm sorry Charley, but you can't have one of our royals -- you know what happened last time that happened!

(Thx for the compliment)

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 20 Nov 10 - 04:27 PM

I'm sure Prince Harry would be available for a consideration.

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: Charley Noble
Date: 20 Nov 10 - 10:24 PM

Prince Harry may be OK but some of our gals would only settle for a Prince Willie! Now they've nothing left to do but sell themselves into wage slavery and make ends meet by shopping at Wal-Mart.

What a cruel world!

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 21 Nov 10 - 06:31 AM

If anybody's interested, there's more of this nonsense on my blog. It would be nice if I could get someone to look at it!

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: bubblyrat
Date: 21 Nov 10 - 06:49 AM

I like the word "poncey", Lizzie, but am vaguely disturbed to discover that the United States Navy has a ship called USS Ponce !!
----perhaps it means something different (as do so many words ) over there !
          As to Kate ; well, on Thursday or Friday morning (I forget which), the female presenter of the BBC "Breakfast" programme referred to her as " Queen Catherine" , which is a bit ..well, premature ,wouldn't you say ?? Besides which,there'll be about 20-30 years of King Charles & Queen Camilla to go before anything like that happens ; by which time .... (call me cynical !).

A student from Berkshire,named Kate,
Went out with a Prince,on a date ;
He have her a ring,
Which made her heart sing,
Although really, it just sealed her Fate.

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 21 Nov 10 - 09:51 AM

They'll be King George VII & The Princess Consort, bubblyrat! And if the form book is anything to go by, kings tend to not hang around, while queens go on and on.

We'll all have to get used to singing 'God save the king' ... there'll be a lot of mistakes ...

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 21 Nov 10 - 10:49 AM

It'll be up to him if he wants to be George VII or Charles III, or use any of his other names. There is talk of 'Princess Consort', but according to today's Times he is agitating for "Queen Camilla". Just have to see how it goes. Don't expect I shall survive to see it ~~ the present Gracious Lady seems destined to keep going for a while yet: as long as her own mother who made 100+, even, perhaps? So who knows how it will work out? {A lot of the professional miseries round these parts will probably add "& who cares?" to that ~~ but they can just go away & get on with their bellyaching, cant they!.}

~M~

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 21 Nov 10 - 11:23 AM

He said a long time ago it wouldn't be Charles R: too many negative associations (or bad vibes, as he'd probably say).

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: GUEST,Alan Whittle
Date: 21 Nov 10 - 01:19 PM

Let us not to the marriage of two toffs admit impediment
I refer of course to young Kate and our own sweet William.
Your overwhelming support, of that I'm confident
Or maybe it's confidence misplaced, and I silly am.
The quality of their poshness is not strained
The innate superiority to scruffs like me and thee
Is apparent to even the most hare brained
Without a cuss or fart will pass the ceremony.
Kate's attributes (though fair) are nothing like the Page 3 Sun
Though few can doubt she has big things in gront
More a cute little handful, than a middle-ton.
There'll be no,"Its a Knockout!" - such an embarrassing stunt.
Who'll pay for the wedding - itscarcely matters
As long as England's premier marriage doesn't end in tatters.

Subject: RE: BS: The Royal Engagement: a Sonnet
From: GUEST,Alan Whittle
Date: 21 Nov 10 - 01:21 PM

Let us not to the marriage of two toffs admit impediment
I refer of course to young Kate and our own sweet William.
Your overwhelming support, of that I'm confident
Or maybe it's confidence misplaced, and I silly am.
The quality of their poshness is not strained
The innate superiority to scruffs like me and thee
Is apparent to even the most hare brained
Without a cuss or fart will pass the ceremony.
Kate's attributes (though fair) are nothing like the Page 3 Sun
Though few can doubt she has big things in front
More a cute little handful, than a middle-ton.
There'll be no,"Its a Knockout!" - such an embarrassing stunt.
Who'll pay for the wedding - itscarcely matters
As long as England's premier marriage doesn't end in tatters.

no such word as gront!