Inglethorpe

[Frank E Gibbard]

I recall when it came it to drop,

 

That name, so redolent for me

 

Then in time bygone and addled

 

I beheld its lowing call: "Inglethorpe."

 

A local yokel artisan, a solid railway-man

 

Uttered this vocal mellifluous refrain.

It was a peremptorily impromptu stop

 

One blissful hazy high summery day

 

As the steam train engine stood at ease;

 

Beyond in adjacent shires: a cuckoo's call

 

And I saw Inglethorpe, a symbol of peace.

[David W. Parsley]

Hi Frank, which DP? This DP? If so, I am honored and delighted. I confess that I have not guessed the victim of this parody. Can you supply a link?

 

On the plus side, I admire the comic touches in such parodic phrasing as "lowing call," "vocal mellifluous refrain," "peremptorily impromptu stop," etc. - maliciously construed to let the air out of what was likely a very serious tone in the original. Overall breezy step through somebody's solemnity.

 

- Dave (uhm, DP. I think.)

[Frank E Gibbard]

Thanks David, you are our only DP - I aimed not to confuse further, a bit lazy I must confess abbreviating. Sorry not to use your name properly, but you rightly attributed my nod to your recent interesting series inspired by particular writers. Like yourself here with my piece it is hard to appreciate such exercises sans the knowledge of the poets in question, I am afraid my palpable ignorance of the particular writers you selected for the treatment precluded my comment on these contributions of yours so far.

My parochial arrogance was to think "Adlestrop" would be better known world-wide than it probably is. Thanks for reviewing my assay at aping a much vaunted poem, when you may read the original I hope it's not too bad as a humble tribute really. Frank

[tonyv]

Thanks for the additional info, Frank. I read and kind of liked that "Adlestrop" poem. I think your "Inglethorpe" version adeptly captures its listless mood, albeit in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way.

 

Tony

[David W. Parsley]

The link was helpful (thanks, Tony!) and helped me understand the understated piece being subjected to parody. Understated poems are notoriously difficult to parody, and this one is no exception.

 

Nevertheless I found new sources for hilarity and wordplay, such as in correlating the "addled" state of the poem's persona with the venerable though vacuuous subject of the original, Adlestrop. A throat clears in the original as if at a break in concert or church service, actualizing the awkwardness and unbreachability of the silence; in Inglethorpe, the railway yokel plows it all with full throated din - no magic there! I also like the sound mumming of Adlestrop in the parody's only end-rhymes: drop, Inglethorpe, and stop. Subtle.

 

Perhaps too subtle, except at the end, where it seems to go off topic a little and pronounces a "symbol of peace." Just my thought, but could satirized birds from the countryside put in an appearance here? Also, have you considered mimicking the abcb rhyme scheme in the original? And how about all that wh-wh-wh stuff in Adlestrop's 3rd stanza - bet you could make a mess of that.

 

Thanks for sharing the fun!

 

- Dave

 

P.S. References: yes, I put the links below my poem in the main entry. I hope this device is not excessively distracting. Then, too, maybe it doesn't help much if the victimized author is sufficiently unfamiliar to the reader, but I confess that getting to the original "inspiration" for this piece was a help to me.

[Frank E Gibbard]

Cheers David, your a good sport giving all the nourishing feedback. Thanks too for having a further look at this one after Tony's helpful link.

I knew the original rather well and didn't refer that much to the text for my pastiche, just sought a flavour of the sound dynamic of it - could have taken it other ways as you suggested wisely playing with the birds for instance, had had my fun (as this is ta ever so for the idea (I borrowed). Am still awake for the dawn chorus by the way watching Elton John's Rio concert on youtube & just flipped over to PMO. Good night/morning. Frank