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

~Long past bedtime... will check for the next poetry poser tomorrow~

shazz

If I may be so bold........I know I said Lord Alfred when in fact it was Alfred Lord but since I will be going away shortly, I thought it might be appropriate to include these lines in this game -

"Remember me when I am gone way,
Gone far away into the silent land."

Beth

Don't go Why are you going? Will you come back? When will you come back? You'll take your computer with you and still talk to us won't you?

I'll name that mournful verse. It's "Remember" by Christina Georgina Rossetti. very sad. Goes on:
"When you can no more hold me by the hand,
"Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay."

That's what you should do. You should stay.

Sal

My turn, methinks?

This is a very well-known one, caused really by a change in the language, not by the poet's clumsiness. But I like it:

"And from this chasm with ceaseless turmoil seething,
"As if this Earth in fast thick pants were breathing,
"A mighty fountain momently was forced,"

Name of Poet and correct name of poem please.

Clue: 'a person from Porlock' (not the poet). It's so easy that's all you get

Enigmatically,


Hull

'Kubla Khan' or 'A Vision in a Dream' by Samuel Coleridge Taylor.

OK:

'Here is a tramp who stands and gazes;
And there is the green for stringing the daisies!'

Think travel... think late 19th Century

shazz

From a Railway Carriage, Robert Louis Stevenson. A truly Vogon couplet.

I'm trying not to spend all day on this - I've got w**k to do, so I'm only visiting (far too often) now and again. But here goes for a perfectly Vogon set of rhymes from one of the most famous poems of a famous poet - a real inspiration for us all:

His broad clear brow in sunlight glow'd;
On burnish'd hooves his war-horse trode;
From underneath his helmet flow'd
His coal black curls as on he rode,


Hull

"As he rode down to Camelot"

I know ... it's "The Lady of Shalott" by Alf Tennyson, again.

and yet more Vogon feasts:

"Out flew the web and floated wide
"The mirror crack'd from side to side
"'The curse is come upon me,' cried
"The Lady of Shalott "

Fab!

Try this one

"It happened that a few weeks later
"Her aunt was off to the theatre
"To see that interesting play
"The Second Mrs Tanqueray"

You don't really need any clues, do you?

You're very clever to get the Lady, Sal, but this one's Matilda - The Girls Who Told Lies and was Burned To Death, by Hilarious Belloc. As such, for me it doesn't really count as it's consciously a funny poem, therefore not a Vogonish one. Vogon poems are never consciously funny, as Vogons have no sense of humour. Try again please?


This game is too addictive. I'm definitely have to sign off until this evening. Have fun,


Hull

Bother. You're right of course. Well you'll get this one easy-peasy-japanesey 'cause he's a particular favourite of yours. And he's very serious indeed

"For God He turned the ball aside
"Maclean aimed at her head;
"And he felt very angry
"Because he didn't shoot her dead."

You're right. It's addictive.

It's only addictive cos it's so much fun. I'll leave this though, and give someone else a chance.


Hull

That MUST be our old friend William McGonagall. Who else could come up with it? Don't know the title though.

Beth

Well done that Muse. Now you just need the title. Conferring is allowed. I bet Hull could help you and, after all the divine inspiration you've given him, I think he's duty bound - if he's around.

Any other fans out there with a clue for Beth?

Sal

Beth - delighted to help. It's not really all that well known, so:

Att**pt*d As****ination of the Q***n

God prosper long our noble Queen,
And long may she reign!
Maclean he tried to shoot her,
But it was all in vain.

For God He turned the ball aside
Maclean aimed at her head;
And he felt very angry
Because he didn't shoot her dead.


Hull

Oooo Hull , I think you have just given me a little hint. Could the title be "Attempted Assassination of the Queen"?

Poor McGonagall, he was so fond of the queen - he must have been very upset.

Beth

That's it! What a team you make! Brilliant - the genius and his Muse

That William ... if he'd been alive at the same time as Paula Nancy, she'd've had real competition!

Ok you guys. Your turn(s).

It's Beth's turn really, ref. But she lives in Canada so we're going to have to wait a bit.

I'd be very reluctant to take her turn away from her, just because she lives so far away.

*raises voice* it's your turn, Beth!!!!



Hull

Hark! A sweet voice call to me across the ocean - could it be ?

Ah, indeed it is.

I feel inclined to linger with the subject of blowing brains out a little longer -

"So he sigh'd and pined and ogled,
And his passions boiled and bubbled,
Till he blew his silly brains out,
And no more by it was troubled."

Beth

This is a technical foul, ref, as it's from a comic poem, as in Posting 28. But your decision is final, and as Beth is so far away a ruling against her might make us wait till she gets home from work. Unless you're still there, Beth?


Hull


Beth - nothing personal

Hmmm. Yes, I think I have to agree with Hull. Sorry Beth Give us different one. But tell us the answer to that pining ogler poem too. I like it and I've never heard it before.

Sal

Oh dear....the ref's gone missing and so has Beth.

OK, I'll carry on. It's from William Makepeace Thackeray's 'Werther', which I think may be a satire on Goethe's 'Sorrows of Young Werther', although I've never read the latter.

It's a comic satire, so the poet knew what he was doing. Vogon Poets have no sense of humour and never know what they're doing.

I'll leave the next choice to anyone who wants to have a go.


Hull