Admin Post: The Poetry Page: On The Bummel with Mrs. Hudson

[scfrankles]

This month we will not be actually going out ‘on the bummel’ until the evening of the 31st. On that night we will first be accompanying the Baker Street Irregulars as they go Guising, and then at the end of the night we will be locating the nearest gin palace to toast Mrs. Small-Hobbit and celebrate her birthday. It should all be splendid!

Of course, the tradition when Guising at Hallowe’en is to do your party piece in exchange for a treat—offer a poem, a song or a joke. So now is the perfect time to write a new poem for the occasion. (Or a raucous drinking song for Mrs. S-H’s birthday party—Mrs. Frankles’ suggestion, not mine.)

You could also perhaps consider what you are going to wear for the Guising. I believe you are expected to dress up as the most terrifying thing you can possibly think of, and so I personally will be dressing as Mr. Holmes in possession of a box of matches and a distracted mind.

To assist you in your creative endeavours, here is a quotation from the other half of the reason most of the rent goes on renovation work. The quotation comes from ‘The Sign of the Four’, Chap. 3, ‘In Quest of a Solution’:


There was, to my mind, something eerie and ghostlike in the endless procession of faces which flitted across these narrow bars of light—sad faces and glad, haggard and merry. Like all humankind, they flitted from the gloom into the light and so back into the gloom once more.



Here are the usual suggestions for poetry forms:

221B verselet, abecedarian poetry, acrostic poetry, alexandrine, ballad, barzelletta, beeswing, blackout poetry, blitz poem, blues stanza, bref double, Burns stanza, call and response, chastushka, cherita, cinquain, circular poetry, clerihew, clogyrnach, colour poems, compound word verse, concrete poetry, Cornish verse, curtal sonnet, débat, décima, descort, diamante, doggerel, double dactyl, echo verse, ekphrasis, elegiac couplet, elegiac stanza, elfje, englyn, enuig, epigram, epistle, epitaph, epulaeryu, Etheree, fable, Fib, florette, found poetry, free verse, ghazal, haiku, hay(na)ku, In Memoriam stanza, Italian sonnet, jueju, kennings poem, lanturne, lies, limerick, line messaging, list poem, lyric poetry, mathnawī, micropoetry, mini-monoverse, musette, nonsense verse, palindrome poetry, pantoum, Parallelismus Membrorum, poem cycle, puente, quatern, quintilla, renga, rhyming alliterisen, riddle, rimas dissolutas, rime couée, rispetto, Schüttelreim, sedoka, septet, sestina, shadorma, sonnet, stream of consciousness, tanka, tercet, terza rima, tongue twister poetry, triangular triplet, tricube, trine, triolet, Tyburn, villanelle, xenolith


And now you must excuse me—I hear something going bump in the night. It looks like I may have a rent bill to recalculate…

Comments

Happy Birthday!

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

If there is corn, then we cob it.
If there's an apple, we bob it.
If there's a canvas, we daub it.
If there's a stagecoach, we rob it.
If there's a turnip, we lob it.
If there's a cupboard, we knob it.
But if there's a mod
fine, fair, and well-shod
then we simply must call it
Small Hobbit!

Re: Happy Birthday!

[smallhobbit]

Aw, thank you so much!

Re: Happy Birthday!

[scfrankles]

I love your rhymes ^___^ Particularly If there's a turnip, we lob it./ If there's a cupboard, we knob it. Very inventive indeed ^___^

Re: Happy Birthday!

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Thanks!

A Raucous Drinking Song

[scfrankles]

Once in October
In a time far away,
Mrs. Small-Hobbit
Was born on this day.
It’s the date of her birth,
So let’s show her worth
And let’s all have one more round!


Mrs. Small-Hobbit has a lot on her plate.
She sometimes gets into a wearisome state.
Her corset is loosened and her manner distrait
(What follows on then I shall just ‘bbreviate.)
She knows that some things are much better than wealth
And vitamin C better when taken by stealth,
And that’s why some cider is often inside ‘er
It’s all for the sake of her health!


Once in October
In a time far away,
Mrs. Small-Hobbit
Was born on this day.
It’s the date of her birth,
So let’s show her worth
And let’s all have one more round!


Once Mrs. Hudson was in need of some cash
And wasn’t too willing to do something rash.
So she became a landlady serving bangers and mash
But now ev’ry day ends with a yell and a crash.
All energy gone, all peace of mind spent,
There’s only one way to still be content.
And that’s why the gin, she keeps pouring in
And adds the cost onto the rent!


Once in October
In a time far away,
Mrs. Small-Hobbit
Was born on this day.
It’s the date of her birth,
So let’s show her worth
And let’s all have one more round!


Dr. John Watson thinks a lot of his friend
Even when Holmes won’t allow him money to spend.
He locks up his chequebook and the key he won't lend.
When it comes to this viewpoint, he refuses to bend.
Though in the end it has just one drawback
And leads to poor Watson being labelled a quack.
Each time it seems brandy is his modus operandi
But without cash he’ll always true medicine lack!


Once in October
In a time far away,
Mrs. Small-Hobbit
Was born on this day.
It’s the date of her birth,
So let’s show her worth
And let’s all have one more round!


[Repeat verses and chorus until no-one can stand up any more]

Re: A Raucous Drinking Song

[smallhobbit]

I'll drink to that!

Re: A Raucous Drinking Song

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

A fitting tribute! Yo-ho!

Dr Watson's Hokey Cokey

[smallhobbit]

You put your right arm in, your right arm out
Knock over the teapot and wave the dregs about
Do the hokey cokey and turn yourself about
That’s what it’s all about

You put your left arm in, your left arm out
Knock over the lighted candle and wave the wax about
Do the hokey cokey and turn yourself about
That’s what it’s all about
You put your right foot in, your right foot out
Slosh around on the floor and splatter the tea about
Do the hokey cokey and turn yourself about
That’s what it’s all about

You put your left foot in, your left foot out
Stamp on the flames and put the fire about
Do the hokey cokey and turn yourself about
That’s what it’s all about

You put your whole self in, your whole self out
Mrs Hudson’s got her broomstick and she’s chasing us about
I’m off to my club now; Holmes, sort yourself out
That’s what it’s all about

Re: Dr Watson's Hokey Cokey

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Oh, my goodness! I'm dizzy just reading it!

Re: Dr Watson's Hokey Cokey

[smallhobbit]

heehee!

Re: Dr Watson's Hokey Cokey

[scfrankles]

^_______^

I enjoyed that a great deal ^___^

Re: Dr Watson's Hokey Cokey

[smallhobbit]

Thank you very much :)

Guising (samsong + samsong)

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

This is a boy.

This is a boy on the last night of October.
This is a boy in a costume grim and sober.

This is a boy who has been asked to go guising.
This is a boy who finds it wildly surprising.
This is a boy who is shy but enterprising.

This is a boy whose verse is a pitiful thing.
This is a boy who is far too bashful to sing.
This is a boy whose jokes either fall flat or sting.
This is a boy whose steps lack poise and graceful spring.

This is a boy who looks on as boys and girls dance
This is a boy who watches them juggle and prance
This is a boy who sees them recite in bold stance.
This is a boy who gives them all a careful glance.
This is a boy who observes and waits for his chance.

This is a boy who steps up with trepidation.
This is a boy who makes a keen observation.
This is a boy who speaks of maids and libation.
This is a boy whose words provoke consternation.
This is a boy blind to unease and vexation.
This is a boy who greets his treat with elation.

This is a boy who tells the present, infers the past.
This is a boy whose apt deductions flabbergast.
This is a boy who renders every face aghast.
This is a boy who answers questions that are asked.
This a boy whose young peers see that he goes last.

This is a boy who, by the last house, is replete.
This is a boy who is ‘bout to burst with sweet-meat.
This is a boy who looks sick-green and starts to bleat.
This is a boy decorating the lane with treat.

This is a boy put to bed without a quibble.
This is a boy who for days can’t bear a nibble.
This is a boy who gains reputation as sibyl.

This is a boy who stays at home next Hallow’s Eve
This is a boy who doesn’t mourn, who doesn’t grieve.

This is a boy.

This is a boy on the last day of October.
This is a boy not in costume grim or sober.

This is a boy who shares fright tales with his brother.
This is a boy enjoying treats from his mother
This is a boy who wants this fun and no other.

This is a boy not invited to go guising.
This is a boy who finds it most unsurprising.

This is a boy.

Re: Guising (samsong + samsong)

[debriswoman]

I think this works well, and I am not surprised the householders prefer giving out treats to having their secrets revealed. A kind of mini blackmailing:-p

Re: Guising (samsong + samsong)

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Thanks. I didn't plan as well as I should have and got caught without rhymes toward the end.

Yes, I thought of the news of Sherlock's talent spreading through the village and by the end of it people are just chucking treats at the kids to avoid whatever might await them with the 'performance.'

I think, perhaps like the xenolith, I'll get better with this form after a couple of tries. But I appreciate your suggesting it.

Re: Guising (samsong + samsong)

[scfrankles]

That's so sweet and so poignant ^^" I can well imagine little Sherlock as the awkward child who hasn't yet learnt to wear the 'mask' and is at first pleased to have finally come up with a talent to share.

Some favourite lines:

This is a boy whose jokes either fall flat or sting.

This is a boy who speaks of maids and libation.

This is a boy who tells the present, infers the past.
This is a boy whose apt deductions flabbergast.
This is a boy who renders every face aghast.

This is a boy put to bed without a quibble.
This is a boy who for days can’t bear a nibble.
This is a boy who gains reputation as sibyl.

This is a boy not invited to go guising.
This is a boy who finds it most unsurprising.

And you were so inventive with the rhyming words in general ^__^

Re: Guising (samsong + samsong)

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Thank you! I did not hit upon this idea until January but I thought it was a good one and debriswoman suggested the form for chairs but I'd already started that one.

Thanks about the rhymes! Was a bit sticky!