Wednesday, March 17, 2010

An englyn, a fib and a clerihew, with pictures.


Grey goose - englyn

Grey goose eliding through sleek water flow
bubble-bow-wave breaking to
soft silver patterning.  Who
could lay gold eggs, if not you?

~~~



Alder - fib

Cones
and
catkins
water's edge
festoons and emblems
alder holds both spring and winter.

~~~



Bayard - clerihew

The great horse Bayard
Could jump very far,
He belonged to the four brothers Aymon
And French fire hydrants often have his name on.

~~~ 

12 comments:

JoAnnA said...

what a stunning photo... its balance is actually quite perfect and textures in the water surrounding the bird, all so exquisite. Thank you for posting this photo... x

Catalyst said...

Beautiful!

Steve said...

Love the photo of the Goose.

marja-leena said...

Goose is gorgeous but I'm quite attracted by the silvery water and especially those bubbles in front of him!
And learning some new words too!

J Cosmo Newbery said...

Love the goose - even if the only ones I have met seem to love having hissy fits.

Roderick Robinson said...

Given that I'm a sucker for poetic rigour I was under the impression that clerihews have their own format, As with:

The moustache of Adolf Hitler
Could hardly be littler,
Was a thought that kept recurring
To Field Marshall Goering.

or

No, said General Sherman,
I did not enjoy the sermon,
Not did I git any
Kick out of the litany.

But no doubt the tide of poetic fashion has washed back and forward a few times since I wrote my one and only clerihew (while doing National Service in the RAF);

If Flying Officer Reece
Would only decease
My studies of wireless
Would become tireless.

To give him his due FO Reece (my electronics tutor) said that while the clerihew was in the worst possible taste it met the format and he deleted the word "more" in the last line to improve it. I promise to say nothing more on clerihews.

Roderick Robinson said...

Ah, my mistake. Reading yours more closely I see it relates to the precedent created by "There was a young bard of Japan." My abject apologies.

herhimnbryn said...

Such a serene goose. I miss catkins, so, thankyou.
'Eliding' is now my new word for the day...I wonder if I can get it into conversation?

Dave King said...

Never heard of fib before in that connection. Fascinating - and brilliant images. Loved it.

Anil P said...

The Goose gliding on the water is a picture of balance, at once soothing and delightful.

Rouchswalwe said...

My vocabulary has grown, and like hhnb, I shall endeavour to plop one into a conversation forthwith. (what fun!)

Lucy said...

Thanks all, and welcome Jo.

Goosie's popular. They are rather prone to hissy fits, it's true, but this one seemed quite serene!

Clerihew's don't seem to be too strictly regulated, so I think it'll do, (had a feeling you might be game for clerihews BB!) but I'm not sure I can get away with 'elided' in the englyn really. I did know what it meant, but on closer research, it's use in phonetics is quite precise, and not quite etymologically sound when transferred to physical movement. But it's such a nice word...

Fibs work well on the page when justified centre, I think, you get to see the pleasant Fibonacci shape of them!