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Paul F Blackburn

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The Bluffer's Guide to Poetry

Please could you condense one of the world's great poems into 25 words or less to help me bluff my way in knowledgeable poetry circles.

Example:

Howl by Allen Ginsberg
Madness, drugs and homosexuality, rejoice! Everything else is shit and Carl's dead.
Tue, 14 Dec 2010 08:51 pm
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Chris Dawson

Sonnet CXXX by William Shakespeare

Strange bird, nice tits, don't half fancy 'er!
Tue, 14 Dec 2010 09:17 pm
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Isobel

If by Rudyard Kipling

If you're totally perfect and have a head, you're a man - apparently...
Tue, 14 Dec 2010 10:02 pm
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John Aikman

Howl...fabulous poem. Summary...err, fuck me, they're all fucked, who fucked them and how did they get fucked? Fucked if I know!

:-)

Jx
Tue, 14 Dec 2010 10:06 pm
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Francine

Les orientales - Victor Hugo
Le voile

Honour killing - passionate dialogue between brothers and their sister as they prepare to kill her because she was seen in town without her veil, and she did not lower her eyes in the presence of a man.
Tue, 14 Dec 2010 10:42 pm
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Dave Bradley

Pied Beauty by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Aren't dappled things beautiful. Isn't God clever to make them.
Tue, 14 Dec 2010 11:09 pm
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Ann Foxglove

My Last Duchess by Browning

"Weren't my wife fab - pity she was a trollop! Nice piccy tho! Cost a bomb! She's dead now! Shame Hheheheheheheeh! An' you're next!"
Wed, 15 Dec 2010 06:09 am
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Ray Miller

This Be The Verse by Philip Larkin.

We are fucked
They were fucked
Those will be fucked
Unless we stop fucking
Wed, 15 Dec 2010 08:22 am
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Isobel

This Be The Verse by Philip Larkin.

First we make love
Then we make hate
Best if we don't
Procreate

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 08:41 am
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Paul F Blackburn

Rime of the Ancient Mariner Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Wedding guest grabbed by nutter, tells terrible story of bad luck due to killing albatross. Sadder and wiser guest goes to wedding gets slaughtered, probably.
Wed, 15 Dec 2010 08:43 am
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Dave Bradley

For a' that and a' that by Robert Burns

The poor, honest man of independent mind is King, and laughs at the strutting and tinsel of rank. One day, all men shall be brothers.

Sorry - this should really be in Scots dialect but I canna.
Wed, 15 Dec 2010 11:27 am
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Paul F Blackburn

Paradise Lost – Milton

Silly Satan fights God and, can you Adam and Eve it, loses. Meanwhile they discover sin and sex and it’s absolute hell.
Wed, 15 Dec 2010 12:46 pm
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Chris Dawson

He who wishes for the cloths of Heaven - W.B Yeats

Please remove your shoes before trampling on my carpet.
Wed, 15 Dec 2010 01:38 pm
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Isobel

Warming her Pearls - Carol Ann Duffy

I get to work and warm her pearls. She gets to dance with handsome men and slip naked into bed. Where's the justice in that?

(25 exactly :))
Wed, 15 Dec 2010 01:50 pm
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Ann Foxglove

I went for a walk. Saw loads of daffs! Went home and had a lie down. Thought about daffs!

(Guess!)
Wed, 15 Dec 2010 02:20 pm
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darren thomas

Porphyria's Lover - Robert Browning

Posh bird wants a bit of rough with the hired help. Back fires. God indifferent - justice? Be careful what you wish for.
Wed, 15 Dec 2010 02:32 pm
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Ray Miller

Slough by John Betjeman

He don't like tins or double chins
He don't like many other things
He wants them blown to smithereens

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 03:38 pm
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Paul F Blackburn

The Jackdaw of Rheims – Richard Harris Barham

Bird nicks cardinals ring. Pandemonium as all search here and there. A curse lays the miscreant low. Ring found and bird canonised as ‘Jem Crow’.
Wed, 15 Dec 2010 03:41 pm
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Chris Dawson

The Night Train by W.H. Auden

Going like a train all night long means the postman comes on time.
Wed, 15 Dec 2010 04:36 pm
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Isobel

Darren and Chris's contributions both sound disgusting - I shall have to look them up...

Come to think of it Paul's latter contribution has echoes of Darren's contribution - I need to look them all up!
Wed, 15 Dec 2010 04:39 pm
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Ann Foxglove

This is great - educational and hilarious too!
Wed, 15 Dec 2010 05:01 pm
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Isobel

So it is Ann - I've enjoyed reading poems that I hadn't heard of.

I'd agree with John Betjemen too - the only good thing about Slough is the ice rink - have hosted many a birthday party there - they could easily bomb the rest though...
Wed, 15 Dec 2010 05:03 pm
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Dave Bradley

The Flea by John Donne

Our blood mingling in that flea turns me on. Yeuk! You squashed it! Yield to me - the loss to honour will be a flea bite.
Wed, 15 Dec 2010 06:27 pm
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Julian (Admin)

How Do I Love Thee? Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I love you a lot but will love you even more when I'm dead.
Wed, 15 Dec 2010 07:43 pm
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Paul F Blackburn

Snake D H Lawrence

Bloody snake drinking my water. Threw a log at it, missed. I’m quite glad really.
Wed, 15 Dec 2010 08:06 pm
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Dave Bradley

Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day by William Shakespeare

My word, you're gorgeous. I think I'll write an amazing poem to immortalise you.
Wed, 15 Dec 2010 09:05 pm
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Isobel

Bloody Men - Wendy Cope

Men are like buses - unreliable with grubby seats and noxious fumes. They all come together or not at all - apparently.
Wed, 15 Dec 2010 10:11 pm
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<Deleted User> (7790)

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird by Wallace Stevens

Snowed in and cabin crazy
Wed, 15 Dec 2010 10:46 pm
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<Deleted User> (7790)

Howl by Allen Ginsberg

Tail between his legs and other places.
Wed, 15 Dec 2010 11:07 pm
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Ann Foxglove

Some of these just have to be better than the original poems!
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 06:12 am
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Dave Bradley

Ode on Melancholy - John Keats

Fed up? Substance abuse doesn't work. Cheer yourself up with Nature or letting your mistress hypnotise you. Beauty and Joy don't last. Bit sad really.
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 07:53 am
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Isobel

Warning - Jenny Joseph

When she gets old she will stick two fingers up to the world - write pious poems to annoy atheists, say exactly what she wants to, wear short skirts and purple high heels, make up for all the caring what people thought in her youth, ignore all the rules on poxy threads and well and truly exceed her 25 words so you'd better start getting used to it now - just so you can recognise her when she gets old...
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 08:42 am
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Paul F Blackburn

Ode on a Grecian Urn John Keats

Pot is beautiful but is it truth? – discuss endlessly
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 08:45 am
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<Deleted User> (7790)

The Raven by E.A.Poe

Avian 'flu
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 10:36 am
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<Deleted User> (7790)

The Wasteland by T.S. Eliot

Woman discovers her dentures are pre-programmed to chat about Art. She goes to night school to study Sanskrit in a thunderstorm. Meanwhile, coffee spoons are used by actuaries to calculate lifespan. Extreme fruit-eating contests ensue.
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 10:44 am
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Chris Dawson

The Hand that Signed .... by Dylan Thomas

Ten tiny fingers that always want to play ....

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 10:45 am
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<Deleted User> (7790)

The Thought Fox by Ted Hughes

The moment he discovers he has halitosis.
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 10:49 am
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<Deleted User> (7790)

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star by anon

Neanderthal astronomy.
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 10:50 am
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<Deleted User> (7790)

The Sick Rose by William Blake

Gone viral
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 10:51 am
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<Deleted User> (7790)

If by Rudyard Kipling

Look away now ladies...
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 12:46 pm
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<Deleted User> (7790)

Paradise Lost by John Milton

Change of menu/venue.
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 12:49 pm
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Paul F Blackburn

The Tyger by William Blake

The arsonists charter
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 01:04 pm
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Chris Dawson

The Good Morrow by John Donne

Audabe to you, babe:
Oh! What a Beautiful Morning,
Oh! What a Beautiful Day ...
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 01:20 pm
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Dave Bradley

Greensleeves (trad - song)

I got you loads of presents like clothes and jewels and stuff. Why are you dumping me? Trouble is, I still love you.

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 02:54 pm
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<Deleted User> (7790)

Beowulf by ?

I blame the parents.
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 03:30 pm
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<Deleted User> (7790)

There is Another Sky by Emily Dickinson

When I get my greenhouse I'll invite you over.

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 03:34 pm
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Paul F Blackburn

Do not go gentle into that goodnight by Dylan Thomas

Don't die daddy
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 03:34 pm
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Chris Dawson

Kaddish by Allen Ginsberg

Don't die mummy
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 03:36 pm
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Paul F Blackburn

Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Ma, who the hells making all that noise, get ma gun...
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 03:40 pm
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Dave Bradley

Home Thoughts from Abroad - Robert Browning

Oh to be in England
Now that April's there.
May is pretty good too.
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 03:52 pm
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Chris Dawson

Again and Again and Again by Anne Sexton

If looks could kill ...
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 03:52 pm
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Ray Miller

London by William Blake

Industrialisation is bad. The city is dark, especially at night, and makes slaves and whores of us all. How much, luvver?
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 04:19 pm
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Isobel

To His Coy Mistress - Andrew Marvell

You will soon be dead so give us a shag.

(subtle, very subtle)
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 06:18 pm
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<Deleted User> (7790)

Daffodils by William Wordsworth

He got a bulb in his head.
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 06:26 pm
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<Deleted User> (7790)

Wodwo by Ted Hughes


is it a bird? Is it a plane? is it buggery.
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 06:28 pm
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Paul F Blackburn

Song of myself by Walt Whitman

I'm dead good, me!
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 06:31 pm
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<Deleted User> (7790)

Ode to the Confederate Dead by Robert Lowell

Grave calculus.
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 06:40 pm
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Paul F Blackburn

Sea Fever by John Masefield

Hello sailor!
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 07:39 pm
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Chris Dawson

O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman

We got the ship safely to port, but the skipper had a bad night at the theatre.
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 08:33 pm
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Julian (Admin)

Elegy written in a country churchyard, Thomas Gray.
No-one is better than anyone else, and we are all going to end up dead anyway.
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 08:44 pm
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Julian (Admin)

A visit from St. Nicholas, aka The Night before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore.
There is a Santa; I saw him.
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 08:46 pm
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Paul F Blackburn

The song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Let's play Cowboys and Indians without the Cowboys
Fri, 17 Dec 2010 08:51 am
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Ann Foxglove

hahah! Minihaha! x
Fri, 17 Dec 2010 08:56 am
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Dave Bradley

On the Sale by Auction of Keats' Love Letters - Oscar Wilde

These philistines - wanting to glare and gloat over each blotted note. They're like the soldiers gambling for Jesus' clothes.
Fri, 17 Dec 2010 09:08 am
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Chris Dawson

Forgetfulness by Billy Collins

I'm sure I had a good one for this poem .... nope, it's gone.
Fri, 17 Dec 2010 09:16 am
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Ann Foxglove

The Lake Isle of Innisfree by WB Yeats

I think I'll go and plant some beans!
Fri, 17 Dec 2010 09:28 am
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Ann Foxglove

Under the Waterfall by Thomas Hardy

It's funny, but whenever I do the washing up I think of you and that blimmin cup we lost on that picnic. Aah! Happy days!

(I love the original of this.)
Fri, 17 Dec 2010 09:41 am
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Chris Dawson

Always by Pablo Neruda

I know you've been around the block a bit but I don't care - you're mine now.
Fri, 17 Dec 2010 09:45 am
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Dave Bradley

The Jaguar - Ted Hughes

Hot day - all the animals in the zoo are lethargic. Ah - but not the fierce jaguar, whose mesmerising pacing speaks of freedom and the wild
Fri, 17 Dec 2010 09:54 am
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Paul F Blackburn

The Pied Piper Of Hamelin by Robert Browning

Rats!
Fri, 17 Dec 2010 12:00 pm
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Chris Dawson

The Yawn by Paul Blackburn (the American one - not ours)

Brown-eyed girl, big mouth ... just sends me to sleep.
Fri, 17 Dec 2010 12:22 pm
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Dave Bradley

Napoleon - Walter de la Mare

'What is the world, O soldiers?
It is I:
I, this incessant snow,
This northern sky;
Soldiers, this solitude
Through which we go
Is I.'

whole poem - 25 words - does that count?
Fri, 17 Dec 2010 01:07 pm
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Ann Foxglove

Napoleon - Walter de la Mare

What is the world, ;-O soldiers?
It is I:-)
I, this incessant snow;-)
This northern sky;-)
Soldiers, this solitude
Through which we go
Is I;-)

I like this version better! ;-)
Fri, 17 Dec 2010 01:57 pm
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John Aikman

Shakespeare's Sonnet No. 18

Cor...you're a bit of alright! Me love you longtime.
Fri, 17 Dec 2010 03:23 pm
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Dave Bradley

The Skunk - Seamus Heaney

Lying in the dark, listening to my lovely wife preparing for bed. In California I missed her so much a skunk reminded me of her.
Fri, 17 Dec 2010 11:34 pm
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Chris Dawson

On the Ning Nang Nong by Spike Milligan

Nonsense with assonance.
Fri, 17 Dec 2010 11:38 pm
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Paul F Blackburn

Waltzing Matilda by Banjo Patterson

Perilous poaching, one swagman dead
Sat, 18 Dec 2010 01:51 pm
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Julian (Admin)

Tennyson sought a rhyme for "Camelot"
Came up with “Lady of Shallott”
Who was cursed when she saw Lancelot
Went boating, died. That’s your lot.
Sat, 18 Dec 2010 03:20 pm
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Julian (Admin)

Auden
Here comes the night mail crossing the border
with lots of letters for all sorts of different people.
Sat, 18 Dec 2010 03:21 pm
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Julian (Admin)

Mcgonagle's Tay Bridge Disaster

Train crash ruins hogmanay in Dundee.
Sat, 18 Dec 2010 03:25 pm
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Chris Co

Auden- Stop All The Clocks

They died and they meant a lot to me and now everything is a shit waste of time.
So put the world in the bin.
Sat, 18 Dec 2010 03:40 pm
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Paul F Blackburn

L'Albatross by Charles Baudelaire

Pas de noms d’oiseaux je vous prie, je suis poete!

Don't give me the bird, I'm a poet!



http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/l-albatros-the-albatross/
Sat, 18 Dec 2010 03:41 pm
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Chris Co

Longfellow- The Day Is Done.

An eagles feather worth of misty eyed sadness makes me want to read a simple poem and go to bed.
Sat, 18 Dec 2010 03:43 pm
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Dave Bradley

Considering the Snail - Thom Gunn

Even snails can be passionate
Sat, 18 Dec 2010 04:54 pm
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Julian (Admin)

You and I, Roger McGough

I don't understand you
you don't understand me.
Sat, 18 Dec 2010 05:06 pm
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Chris Dawson

Not Waving But Drowning by Stevie Smith

Watch out for the undertow!
Sat, 18 Dec 2010 05:46 pm
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Ann Foxglove

Not Waving But Drowning by Stevie Smith

He was always a bit odd but we never knew!
Sat, 18 Dec 2010 06:48 pm
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John Coopey

Isabella or the Pot of Basil, Ode on a Grecian Urn, and La Belle Dame Sans Merci:-


Nice Jugs
Sat, 18 Dec 2010 09:46 pm
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Ann Foxglove

That Roger McGough poem what I can't think of the name of!

On the bus someone said it would soon be the end of the world. We were all at it like knives! Gonna do it again tomorra!
Sun, 19 Dec 2010 06:15 am
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Dave Bradley

Spiritual Chickens - Stephen Dobyns

A choice. Either my dining room contains the ghosts of all the chickens I ever ate. Or I go mad. Hmmmm - think I'll go mad.
Sun, 19 Dec 2010 07:58 am
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Paul F Blackburn

A Subaltern’s Love Song by John Betjeman

Wooing and spooning and then the deed's done
Sun, 19 Dec 2010 09:24 am
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Chris Dawson

Burnt Norton from Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot

Anybody got the time?
Sun, 19 Dec 2010 09:35 am
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Chris Dawson

Talking Turkeys by Benjamin Zephaniah

Don't give me the bird at Christmas, I'm a vegetarian poet.

This should've followed the Baudelaire/Blackburn Albatross really - never mind, it's still a big bird and an encounter with death - very seasonal ;)
Sun, 19 Dec 2010 04:17 pm
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Paul F Blackburn

The Gate of the Year by Minnie Louise Haskins

God help us every one
Sun, 19 Dec 2010 04:37 pm
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Paul F Blackburn

Casabianca by Felicia Dorothea Hemans

Oh boy, worse things happen at sea
Sun, 19 Dec 2010 05:46 pm
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Ann Foxglove

The Force That Through The Green Fuse Drives The Flower by Dylan Thomas

Sap! We're all just sap - then we all die! Even lovers die too! Grrrrr!
Sun, 19 Dec 2010 06:53 pm
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Dave Bradley

The Passionate Shepherd to his Love - Christopher Marlowe

Come live with me and be my Love, and we will share an environmentally friendly lifestyle.
Sun, 19 Dec 2010 10:17 pm
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Chris Dawson

Fox by Adrienne Rich

Foxed.
Mon, 20 Dec 2010 10:13 am
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Paul F Blackburn

Beasley Street by John Cooper Clarke

A taste of honey
Mon, 20 Dec 2010 11:11 am
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John Aikman

The Rape of the Lock - Alexander Pope.

Hair today...gone tomorrow.
Mon, 20 Dec 2010 11:13 am
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Paul F Blackburn

Ode To The West Wind by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Blow me!
Mon, 20 Dec 2010 11:35 am
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Dave Bradley

The Nurse's Song - William Blake

Hurray, it's getting dark, but nurse is letting us play out a bit longer.
Mon, 20 Dec 2010 09:11 pm
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Chris Dawson

The Wind by Robert Louis Stevenson

Well, blow me too!
Mon, 20 Dec 2010 09:15 pm
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Paul F Blackburn

The Masque of Anarchy by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Charge of the heavy brigade
Mon, 20 Dec 2010 09:18 pm
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winston plowes

Thankyou Ladies and Gentlemen. I am now a poetry egg head !
Mon, 20 Dec 2010 09:55 pm
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Francine

Le Pont Mirabeau - Guillaume Apollinaire

Time goes on as the Seine flows... hope is violent and love will vanish.
Mon, 20 Dec 2010 09:58 pm
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Julian (Admin)

Jabberwocky, Lewis Carroll
Jabberwocky decapitated by vorpal blade as slithy toves gyre and gimble. Callooh! Callay!
Mon, 20 Dec 2010 10:34 pm
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Chris Dawson

Do Whatever Your Heart Desires by Felix Dennis

Stop procrastinating and get on with it!

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 10:50 pm
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Paul F Blackburn

A Martian Sends a Postcard Home by Craig Raine

Articulates arranged in strict lines and rows, engage in battle
Tue, 21 Dec 2010 08:24 am
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Dave Bradley

To a Skylark - Percy Bysshe Shelley

What a wonderful, perfect song. Reminds me of all sorts of lovely things. You must know something we humans don't. Teach me your thoughts!
Tue, 21 Dec 2010 08:42 am
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Paul F Blackburn

Tin Peened Reindeer by Don Van Vliet (who died this week)

An odd nativity tableau, decidedly odd
Tue, 21 Dec 2010 02:38 pm
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DG

Church Going by Phil Larkin

A fellow arrives in church late,
sticks an Irish sixpence on the plate,
and sits quietly bitchin'
about superstition,
but likes burials within the church gates.
Tue, 21 Dec 2010 03:09 pm
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DG

oh bollocks! That's twenty-six words. Right, lose the and from the third line.
Tue, 21 Dec 2010 03:11 pm
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Chris Dawson

I Look Into My Glass by Thomas Hardy

There's life in the old dog yet!
Tue, 21 Dec 2010 05:12 pm
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Paul F Blackburn

The naming of parts by Henry Reed

Guns and Roses
Wed, 22 Dec 2010 08:10 am
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Ann Foxglove

The Night Before Christmas by Clement Moore

Hope you've all been good - Cos FATHER CHRISTMAS IS COMING!!!!! ;-)
Wed, 22 Dec 2010 08:57 am
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Dave Bradley

The Mower to the Glow-worms - Andrew Marvell.

Aren't glow-worms lovely. There to show the way home. Hmmmm...here comes Juliana. She puts my head in a spin. Now I'll never get home.
Wed, 22 Dec 2010 12:44 pm
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DG

The Stolen Child by Bill Yeats

The faeries befriend and entice
a young kid to come somewhere dead nice
whilst their evil's concealed
from the kid, it's revealed
in their words. He's the samhain sacrifice
Wed, 22 Dec 2010 07:25 pm
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DG

29 words this time. Can we just condense acclaimed literary gems down to limericks instead?
Wed, 22 Dec 2010 07:27 pm
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Chris Dawson

To Motorists by Rudyard Kipling

Highway to Hell.
Wed, 22 Dec 2010 07:45 pm
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<Deleted User> (6534)

Underwear by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Everything is pants even Dylan Thomas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ4OMXqcI6k&feature=related
Wed, 22 Dec 2010 10:45 pm
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Francine

Now I will be thinking about underwear...
in ways I have never before imagined.
Thu, 23 Dec 2010 01:06 am
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Steven Waling

Daffodils by William Wordsworth

Big field of dafs, really sublime. Nicked idea from Dotty, though.
Thu, 23 Dec 2010 11:19 am
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Paul F Blackburn

The Isles of Greece by George Gordon Byron

A revolting poem
Thu, 23 Dec 2010 04:45 pm
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<Deleted User> (6534)

may I feel said he by e e cummings

Poet rhymes he with she
Repeatedly
In a series of chat up lines
but woman ends up on top
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLP7YYMWdBM&feature=related
Thu, 23 Dec 2010 04:50 pm
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Dave Bradley

The Scholar's Life - Samuel Johnson

You want to be a scholar? Are you sure?
Thu, 23 Dec 2010 07:58 pm
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Chris Dawson

My Life had stood - by Emily Dickinson

Happiness is a warm gun ...
Thu, 23 Dec 2010 09:29 pm
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Paul F Blackburn

Looking for truth with a pin by Ivor Cutler

The philosopher's stone?
Fri, 24 Dec 2010 07:04 am
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<Deleted User> (6534)

Le bateau ivre By Arthur Rimbaud

I am a boat
I am at sea
I am sinking
There are symbols of death everywhere
I think I’ll settle down and lead a quiet life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc1fJRw6v5w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Upyyhxjwoc&feature=related
Fri, 24 Dec 2010 09:58 am
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John Aikman

Twas the Night Before Xmas - Clement Clarke Moore

Poet invents Santa myth...reindeer and all...in 1823. Not alot of people know that!
Fri, 24 Dec 2010 12:41 pm
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<Deleted User> (6534)

Hollywood Jabberwocky by Frank Jacob

A brillig list of slithy toves in nonsensical cleverness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlOtPem88b4
Fri, 24 Dec 2010 05:11 pm
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Paul F Blackburn

BROCKWELL PARK, SE24 by Judy Brown

How to win the £10k MMU poetry prize


http://www.manchesterwritingcompetition.co.uk/poetry/poetry_judybrown.php
Fri, 24 Dec 2010 05:59 pm
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Fatima al.matar

LOL, this is great, thanks for adding to my poetic education Y'all :)
Fri, 24 Dec 2010 11:37 pm
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Paul F Blackburn

Jack and the Beanstalk by Roald Dahl

Cleanliness can bring you Gold-in-lots


Merry Christmas!
Sat, 25 Dec 2010 02:03 pm
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Chris Dawson

King John's Christmas by A. A, Milne

Having a ball at Christmas!
Xxx
Sat, 25 Dec 2010 05:13 pm
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<Deleted User> (6534)

"A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed" by Jonathan Swift

There is more to beauty than meets (or eats) the eye

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VrJldrUXzc
Sun, 26 Dec 2010 08:27 pm
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Francine

'Puisque j'ai mis ma lèvre à ta coupe encore pleine.'
Victor Hugo

True love lasts forever...
Sun, 26 Dec 2010 11:37 pm
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Isobel

Jenny Kissed Me - Leigh Hunt

Jenny kissed him.
Sun, 26 Dec 2010 11:55 pm
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<Deleted User> (6534)

Occupational hazard by Sophie Hannah

Sleep with you? I’d rather write a poem about not sleeping with you.

http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/singlePoem.do?poemId=14049

Look at these by Helen Farish

How to win a poetry slam

http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/singlePoem.do?poemId=10884
Mon, 27 Dec 2010 02:35 pm
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Francine

Tu me fais rire !

Poem - by Donald Justice
You neither can nor should understand what it means... ; )

Mon, 27 Dec 2010 07:08 pm
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Paul F Blackburn

Sir Gawain The Green Knight by Anon (translated by many)

Be careful you don't lose your head
Mon, 27 Dec 2010 08:26 pm
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Rachel Bond

loves philosophy...percy shelley

for all lovers unrequited; everything else in nature is shagging except you. why not?

Mon, 27 Dec 2010 08:35 pm
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Dave Bradley

On Receiving a Letter Informing Me of the Birth of a Son - Samuel Taylor Coleridge

I was awestruck and overwhelmed - in tears. I thought of life's perilous maze and I prayed.
Mon, 27 Dec 2010 09:28 pm
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<Deleted User> (6534)

In Paris with you by James Fenton

http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/singlePoem.do?poemId=5580

I’m feeling sorry for myself in Paris with you
Tue, 28 Dec 2010 09:37 am
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Francine

Waking up at 5am and reading this has definitely put a smile on my face... : )
Tue, 28 Dec 2010 10:07 am
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Isobel

Yep - I'm enjoying the links also Alvin - some very enjoyable poetry from people I have't heard of. I probably won't remember them either - this shocking memory of mine... I have managed to buy some Billy Collins for Christmas though :-)

Thanks
Tue, 28 Dec 2010 10:36 am
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<Deleted User> (6534)

"Valentine" by John Fuller

What’s not to like

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv3Pz_o1DQk
Tue, 28 Dec 2010 10:45 am
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Paul F Blackburn

A Youth in Apparel that Glittered by Stephen Crane

Death of a new romantic

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-youth-in-apparel-that-glittered/
Tue, 28 Dec 2010 11:13 am
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<Deleted User> (6534)

Lorna Crozier My Last Erotic Poem

In the end humour is the only aphrodisiac that keeps working

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ-wVeUrSl0&feature=related
Tue, 28 Dec 2010 02:49 pm
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Paul F Blackburn

Landscape of a Vomiting Multitude by Federico Garcia Lorca

Capitalism, don't you love it?
Tue, 28 Dec 2010 04:27 pm
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Francine

If You Forget Me - Pablo Neruda

'If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.'


Wed, 29 Dec 2010 03:28 am
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<Deleted User> (6534)

Tonight I can write the saddest lines-Pablo Neruda

I’ll be over her in the morning maybe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHwtmBEfld4&feature=related
Wed, 29 Dec 2010 11:26 am
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Paul F Blackburn

Don't let that horse by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Paint a horse eating a violin
and pretty soon you'll be quids in
Ignoring mother is downright rude
give the horse to a naked nude
Wed, 29 Dec 2010 01:54 pm
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Julian (Admin)

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Don’t shoot the messenger or we are all doomed. Uh-oh!
Wed, 29 Dec 2010 02:01 pm
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Francine

The Mystery - Sara Teasdale


'Can I ever know you
Or you know me?'
Wed, 29 Dec 2010 11:24 pm
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<Deleted User> (6534)

Why Brownlee left by Paul Muldoon

I don't know

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfRmkDM78UE&feature=related
Thu, 30 Dec 2010 10:06 am
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Paul F Blackburn

Instants by Jorge Luis Borges

I'll wear purple if I'm reincarnated

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/instants/
Thu, 30 Dec 2010 10:40 am
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Chris Dawson

Came the Great Popinjay by Dame Edith Sitwell

The Halitosis Shuffle
Thu, 30 Dec 2010 05:39 pm
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Dave Morgan

Under Milk Wood

24 hours in the life of a small town peopled by types who are pre-occupied with sex and death. A bit like Bolton really.
Thu, 30 Dec 2010 06:16 pm
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Ann Foxglove

Who Killed Cock Robin?

Sounds like they all had a hand in it!
Thu, 30 Dec 2010 06:17 pm
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Julian (Admin)

The Charge of the Light Brigade, Alf Tennyson

Some pillock said, "get the lights out"
We charged the batteries.
Sparks flew.
It went from positive to negative.
Not many survived.
How glorious!
Thu, 30 Dec 2010 07:19 pm
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Paul F Blackburn

The Mortal One by Sharon Olds

Dad's dead but I'm OK now we've burned him

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-mortal-one/
Thu, 30 Dec 2010 07:48 pm
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Chris Dawson

The Catholic Sun by Hilaire Belloc

Once a Catholic ... hic!
:)

Thu, 30 Dec 2010 08:13 pm
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Paul F Blackburn

OH, I WISH I'D LOOKED AFTER MY TEETH by Pam Ayres

She wishes she'd looked after her teeth apparently
Thu, 30 Dec 2010 08:15 pm
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Dave Bradley

A Short Song of Congratulation - Samuel Johnson

21! Congratulations. Sir John, lavish your Grandsire's guineas - spend it! Wealth was made to wander. If it does, you can hang or drown at last.
Thu, 30 Dec 2010 08:26 pm
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Chris Dawson

Little Paul by Louisa May Alcott

Don't go down to the seas again, Little Paul, to the lonely sea and the sky ...
Thu, 30 Dec 2010 08:50 pm
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Francine

Enigma - Duncan Campbell Scott

I want to understand...
Thu, 30 Dec 2010 10:13 pm
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<Deleted User> (6534)

My beloved compares herself to a pint of stout by Paul Durcan

I dont go to the pub but stay at home with the wife
Fri, 31 Dec 2010 08:54 am
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Paul F Blackburn

The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

About a thousand Persian poems written by a polymath definitely worth a look though the FitzGerald translation is a bit iffy, apparently.
Fri, 31 Dec 2010 09:04 am
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Chris Dawson

Wedding-Ring by Denise Levertov

All that is left is a band of gold ...
Fri, 31 Dec 2010 11:09 am
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Francine

Enough by Sara Teasdale

'It is enough...'
Fri, 31 Dec 2010 02:31 pm
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Tommy Carroll

@Francine: 'enough said'?
Fri, 31 Dec 2010 04:45 pm
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Francine

LOL - Sometimes it is, Tommy...
Though my thoughts are reflected in the poem.
Fri, 31 Dec 2010 04:59 pm
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<Deleted User> (6534)

Upon Julia’s Breasts
Upon The Nipples Of Julia's Breast
Fresh cheese and cream
by Robert Herrick

I'm a titman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWjkhoEEY4Y&feature=related
Fri, 31 Dec 2010 05:50 pm
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Isobel

For some reason I'm reminded that Mr Kipling makes exceedingly good cakes...

Maybe I've heard that same voice on a cherry bakewell advert.
Fri, 31 Dec 2010 07:41 pm
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Francine

I can't stop laughing!
Have you already started drinking?
Fri, 31 Dec 2010 08:16 pm
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Isobel

Its never too early for a tipple - you ask Robert Herrick...

Perhaps we should invert the process in this thread. Summarise an idea in less than 25 words and then write a poem. We might all become poets then...

I'm turning over a new leaf - no more commenting when I'm half cut...

Happy New Year all you bluffers and beaters!
Sat, 1 Jan 2011 02:42 am
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Dave Bradley

Happy New Year to you too Izz

New Year on Dartmoor - Sylvia Plath

All the glinting and clinking is all very well, but the New Year will contain challenges. Mum knows.
Sat, 1 Jan 2011 09:47 am
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<Deleted User> (6534)

Be Drunk
By Charles Baudelaire

It’s your round Francine and Isobel. Happy New Year

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLiygN9p35Q
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16054
Sat, 1 Jan 2011 11:23 am
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Isobel

What a great message for a New Year's Day - eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow...

I must say - he didn't look too merry in his photo - perhaps that was the raging syphilis...

Anyone know a poem about STDs ;) ?
Sat, 1 Jan 2011 01:31 pm
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Francine

Merci !
C'est un très beau poème !

I will continue to be drunk on love, laughter, and...
Sat, 1 Jan 2011 09:31 pm
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Francine

The Harlot's House - Oscar Wilde

'Love passed into the house of lust'
and everything changed.
 
Tue, 4 Jan 2011 04:11 am
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Paul F Blackburn

The Genius ("For you I will be a ghetto Jew ..") by Leonard Cohen

get out the razor blades...
Tue, 4 Jan 2011 08:14 pm
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Dave Bradley

The Hug - Thom Gunn

That time we ended up hugging in our friend's spare bed, Mrs. Gunn, was very special.


PS. Leonard Cohen - has anyone read his 'Book of Mercy'? Prose which is more poetic than a lot of what claims to be poetry.
Wed, 5 Jan 2011 12:42 am
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Paul F Blackburn

what would I do without this world by Samuel Becket

Isn't it grand to be bloody well dead

Thu, 6 Jan 2011 10:28 am
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Paul F Blackburn

God, 1993 by Harold Pinter

Paradise lost
Thu, 6 Jan 2011 07:45 pm
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Chris Dawson

To One In Paradise by Edgar Allan Poe

... and found ... and lost again.
Thu, 6 Jan 2011 09:33 pm
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Paul F Blackburn

A Frosty Night by Robert Graves

Making an ice woman
Thu, 6 Jan 2011 11:40 pm
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Chris Dawson

Silvia by William Shakespeare

... a nice woman
Fri, 7 Jan 2011 01:23 pm
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Rachel Bond

wilfred owen. anthem for doomed youth

there will be no funerals for the young, dead, virgin, soldiers. but we will shut the curtains.
Sat, 8 Jan 2011 01:41 am
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Rachel Bond

carrefour. amy lowell

you come, and go, talk a lot of hooey beneath that tree. Why did you not just smother me in honey and leave me to the bees?

Sat, 8 Jan 2011 01:55 am
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Paul F Blackburn

For Bartleby The Scrivener by Billy Collins

I believe I can fly!
Sat, 8 Jan 2011 11:13 am
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Chris Dawson

Trapped by Charles Bukowski

Going round in circles
Sat, 8 Jan 2011 05:59 pm
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Paul F Blackburn

Song of Solomon by Anon

All you need is love (and sex).
Sun, 9 Jan 2011 08:33 pm
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Chris Dawson

J. Beer 1969-1969 by John Beer

I see dead people ...
Tue, 11 Jan 2011 07:34 pm
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Paul F Blackburn

“Like a White Stone” By Anna Akhmatova

Jill went up the hill - no Jack

http://www.bartleby.com/164/100.html

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 08:53 pm
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