Write a poem that addresses your existence, or some part of it, on this earth.
Tickets here
Mine is a kenning
I am ...
a rakish parker
a creative sparker
a button sewer
a lawn mower
a multi-tasker
a question asker
arachnaphobic
a published poet
a boa flaunter
a facebook haunter
a regular blogger
a bandwidth hogger
a sloppy dresser
a happy nonethelesser
Here's more on kennings if you're interested.
Redone with alliteration inspired by Titus
I am ...
a perverse parker
a scheme sparker
a seam sewer
a retired rower
a multi-tasker
an anecdote asker
arachnaphobic
a published poet
a frippery flaunter
a happiness haunter
a bonny blogger
a headline hogger
a dishevelled dresser
a numpty nonethelesser
interesting - did you mean blogger or bogger though? wouldn't really have thought of you in the latter light!
ReplyDeleteA cunning kenning
Bet that list could go on forever! What we do and what is expected of us can be exhausting for sure. Great poem, cheered me up and made me smile. Well done.
ReplyDeleteA Kenning! What a pleasure! And I adore that last "happy nonethelesser"!
ReplyDeleteFeck it, eagle eyed Niamh spotted my typo. Thanks
ReplyDeleteAnd I am not a bogger, not at all (gets on high horse and wades through the swamp into the middle distance)
Ooh, ooh, that's so interesting for so many reasons. Poem itself great, though I think I'd have stuck with bogger even though you lose a bit of sense in what follows. Irish connection so very strong though, with the original.
ReplyDeleteAnd loved the thought of a rakish parker.
Secondly, kennings are major feature of Anglo-Saxon verse (bit of a speciality, as you may recall). Because it was an alliterative meter, compound words were invaluable to get the right start letter, so they had nouns which were noun-noun, adjective-noun and adverb-noun, and adjectives which were noun-adjective, adjective-adjective, adverb-adjective and adjective-noun.
Engla-lond is itself a compound word (land of the Angles).
But it was pure poetry on the part of the scop (poet) that turned the compound word into the kenning; it is much more sophisticated - a kind of condensed metaphor. Can't type in Anglo-Saxon, but here in modern English:
The sea is the whale-way
A ship is a wave-horse
A minstrel is a laughter-smith.
I award you hleator-smith of the day. Which admittedly is a masculine word, but goes well with the boa (feather-neck).
I'm getting boring now. Best be off.
Forgot you are the Anglo-Saxon expert in our midst.
ReplyDeleteShould kennings be alliterative then?
a perverse parker
a scheme sparker ...?
Never heard of a kenning, though Iggy McGovern had a similar sort of poem reach the final of Strokestown a year or two ago. Except he used three alternatives. Fascinating!
ReplyDeleteGreat fun! I likes it. By coincidence one of my efforts is a sort of list starting with 'I am'
ReplyDeleteHappy nonetheless is a great way to be!
No, no, don't have to be! It's a way of getting a start-letter you don't have to the front of a word.
ReplyDeleteThe Anglo-Saxon line has a break in the middle, and the two half-lines must alliterate. There are a number of ways of placing your words to do this, and the finest poems use the most technically and artistically accomplished patterns.
So if the poet was working on
My shoes protect me / made of fine fur
he might coin the kenning
My foot-coats protect me / made of fine fur.
That said, scheme sparker is a bit special...
Thanks everyone.
ReplyDeletePeter. How do you mean Iggy used 3 alternatives? 3 lines? Rhyming?
120Socks - glad to cheer. Yes, too many roles and tasks for one poem I think.
Yes Titus, foot-coats is also a bit special. Fascinating. I read some about it in Stephen Fry's The Ode less travelled. It's very mathematical.
ReplyDeletekennings are right in my style, thanks for the link.
ReplyDeleteI love your world, I can see it!
Di
my ticket is HERE
Continuing education with each passing week! Just reading all the comments.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard of a kenning ... I enjoyed yours very much ~~ fascinating.
How revealing in so few lines! I feel as if I know you now.
ReplyDeleteTitus has me back in Senior English! When I decided to leave teaching, I said that if I had to teach Beowulf one more time, I'd give myself to Grendel!
a kenning! the best ideas are definitely the ones you wish you'd thought of yourself!
ReplyDeleteA fine example of that proto-rap form, the kenning. This rattles along very pleasingly.
ReplyDeleteWonderful! Like it. Very clever.
ReplyDelete