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

Entry: Waiting for Trains - A24203233
Author: minorVogonpoet - U3099090

This is a pantoum. The characteristics of the pantoum are that the second and fourth line of each verse are repeated as the first and third line of the next verse respectively. In the last verse, line three of the first verse becomes line two, while line 1 of the first verse is repeated as the last line. Tricky.

Very tricky

Form and content go together nicely here though, the repetition fitting the idea of routine and monotony.

I'm not saying it's monotonous though! I like it - I think the Proper Names help a lot.

Shouldn't it be 'in stations' though? Or 'on platforms'? 'On stations' doesn't sound quite right (unless I'm missing something and I often am).

Thanks.
I'm not sure about 'in stations'. I suppose 'stations' include the ticket offices, cafes etc, while I was thinking about the platform. But I don't think 'platforms' on its own would be right, because there are other kinds of platform.

I'd say 'in stations', too, I think.

That's a nice, sneaky poem. It gets in there and works awhile.

Thank you.

I'll change it to 'in stations'.

This is neat! I've read a lot of poems with tricky repetition before, but I'd never seen this type. Yes, it is tricky.

The thing I like about this poem is that the repetition fits the message, and it just works extremely well.

MC

Thanks!