h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Dulcimer - A30627786
Author: langsandy - U4056622

Written today - so a fresh start for 1608 - hmm - the year is wrong but the poem is right - you get what I mean I hope

Your words fit a dulcimer, or what I imagine a dulcimer's music to sound like - pauses between notes/ pauses between words. Double meanings seem to fit the period too.

Oooh, I like

Lovely use of words -painting two pictures at once.

Being a bit of an idiot about music I looked up dulcimer in Wikipedia. This suggests two different traditions - the ancient dulcimer originating from the Middle East was hammered. The Appalachian dulcimer, an American folk instrument, was struck. Not sure it matters!

You wouldn't say that, MVP, if you'd heard both instruments.

The hammered dulcimer is sometimes regarded as David's harp. It is an instrument of breathtaking beauty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRwaVanPTDE

The mountain dulcimer, on the other hand, is a menace to our Scots-Irish way of life:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtOBYcHAZME

You haven't suffered until you've been trapped in the same room with multiple mountain dulcimers.

Try a mountain hut in the Cairngorms on a rainy day, trapped with a lad practicing the chanter - he never took the hint when I asked him if he could play the tune - "Over the Hills and Far Away."

Blame it on Wernicke's Area - it was a once-in-a-blue-moon experience that brought it forth - cheers to you, LLWaz

Thankyou MVP - so long as a good note was struck here and there - cheers to you

was it THAT good - I'll have to re-read it - thanks Dimitrigheorgheni

Thanks Dmitri for another of your educational comments!

Thanks for the first link from me also, dmitri. Not so sure about thanks for the second!

langsandy, there no language impairment in the poem, quite the opposite, so I'm not sure I get the connection.

just being Bashfull LLWaz or Dopey - one of the seven

I like this a lot - subtle plays on words and meanings, lovely economic use of words and phrases.

Glad you like it Br Evadne Cake [whatever the hell yr monica translates as] - cheers - langsandy

I'm mostly known as Ev.

Saves virtual ink

Congratulations, langsandy 'Dulcimer' has been picked by our Miners for inclusion in the UnderGuide.

You know the drill by now, I'm sure - and you'll also know we're giving our QA's feedback on the pieces chosen in the hope it'll be of use.

In the case of this poem, he didn't feel it was quite your best - that should be read against the admiration for your work that precedes it, of course - and here's why.

(This is, naturally, subjective opinion - but the dissenting voice is generally the useful one, I think, whether you agree with it or not)

"Genuinely sexy writing tends to occupy one of two poles, either full-on or else allusional/metaphorical. This rather ploughs through the middle, being neither direct nor subtle. To my ear at least that gives it an adolescent tone that makes it seem a little ridiculous.

"Once you've irked your reader, of course, your message unravels. In an unsympathetic second reading, poetic devices become bad grammar – for example I feel moved to point out that the verb 'to wait' must always be either intransitive or else prepositional."

He also queried the layout, as to whether the indentations were there for a reason - something to take up with the Polisher perhaps.

I think 'irked' is the keyword there. From a UG perspective, our opinions always seem to be most strongly divided when it comes to poetry - and the quality of the poem has to be there in order for it to pass our quality control. Which, in this case, it has So, congratulations again!

Thankyou dear editors - I'm fond of this one myself and am very glad you have found it worthy - cheers - and good fortune to you down there in the mine - langsandy

Hello, langsandy! I've polished up your piece and stuck a shiny UG badge on top. You can find it here: A33477690

Hope everything meets with your approval!

hey there broelan - looks super - thanks - langsandy