I note that the presenters of this morning programme are asking for listeners to send in serious limericks. How about sending one in deploring the dearth of music from our kind of composers in their programs? I'm trying to write one myself, but I don't seem to be able to get it right.
To satisfy Radio Three
John's limerick, in which he
bemoans "no unsungs"
failed to climb all the rungs
So he gave up and drank some tea...
Needs some work I think...
LOL Mark!
Here is my "serious limerick" as far as it goes:
The BBC don't understand,
They bury their heads in the sand.
Bach, Beethoven, Brahms have plenty of charms,
Spohr, Raff and Lachner are banned!
Reads pretty well to me John. If I had the temerity to suggest a change it would be:
The BBC don't understand,
They bury their heads in the sand.
Although Beethoven and Brahms have plenty of charms,
Why do Spohr, Raff and Lachner seem banned?
I don't do BBC3, but I can certainly appreciate the idea.
There was an old maid, BBC,
Her playlist was B, B and B,
Enough is enough
It's the same old stuff
How 'bout some A, C thru Z?
True unsung, Johann Rufinatscha,
Wrote music which words barely capture,
His 6th Symphony -
The great one in D -
Would send a Proms crowd into raptures!
I did not think anyone could rhyme "Rufinatscha!"
Alan, you're a natural!
The Controller of Radio 3
Thought his audience was bound to agree
That Holbrooke and Raff
Were both utterly naff
And would not be their cup of tea!
About Alan's limerick:
The 's' at the end is unnecessary, and kind of throws it off for me.
And rhyming 'Rufinatscha' and 'capture' only works if you have the late Patrick McGoohan's accent - wherever he was from.
I take that back. It's also valid in a Boston accent.
The 's', unfortunately and dagnabit, is necessary, Jim. Otherwise it doesn't make sense. However, I agree in a way: I need a last line which ends 'rapture' (sing).
I hate to lecture a true native speaker on his mother tongue, but I don't follow. What is the difference between one rapture and several? Cannot several small raptures be called one big one? Is it bad English to be 'sent into rapture?'
Just curious. :D
Yes - according to my Chambers Dictionary the expression involves the plural. However, poetic licence and all that...
Hmmmmmmmm. How 'bout 'send Proms crowds into A rapture', then? I mean if the singular 'crowd' takes a plural 'raptures', then shouldn't the plural 'crowds' take the singular? Clear as mud to me. ;D
Frankly, I thought you'd be rather more miffed that rhyming 'Rufinatscha' and 'capture' only works if you hail from certain necks of the woods. But I suppose that's the most clever thing about it! ;)
But then, Jim, it wouldn't scan, you see....
And an outrageous rhyme is part of the fun, isn't it?
Ahem...
The BBC3, I am told
In its programming is far from bold
To our unsung composers
We get only "No, sirs,
Upper echelons the listeners would scold!"
Or somesuch. :-[
Or....
The trouble with Aunty's 'Three B's':
They're Baching up all the wrong trees,
Old Ludwig's plain boring,
Johannes? I'm snoring!
So roll on Raff, Rubi and Ries!!
Boom, boom!! And goodnight - have you seen what time it is...?
Boom, boom? BOOM, BOOM?!!!!! What kind of a rim-shot is that?! Ba-dum, CHING! Now THAT'S a rim-shot! ;D
This makes more sense - I think...
The trouble with Aunty's 'Three B's':
They're Baching up all the wrong trees,
Old Ludwig's plain boring,
Johannes? I'm snoring!
Brüll, Berwald and Benda? - yes, please!
As for 'boom, boom!' - well you have to have watched the Basil Brush Show to get that one...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kQLe6BSb34 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kQLe6BSb34)
'Fraid we don't get that one over here too regularly, Alan! Looks jolly, though! Think I'll stick with Primeval and Dr. Who. :D
Alan, my dear friend, I never thought that I'd see you writing a post mentioning Basil Brush (link here (http://www.basilbrush.com/), but don't say I didn't warn you!) at 1:22 in the wee small hours! Is it all getting too much, do you think?
It's becoming an obsession...
Rachmaninov, Rimsky, Rodrigo,
That PC, those Tales, oh amigo!
Much better by far -
A new threefold R:
Raff, Reinecke, Rub' - off we go!!
Oh dear, he's at it again
It's wrong to say he's insane
But if he's still writing
when night bugs are biting
Shouldn't Mrs Howe shout out "refrain"?
John, what have you done?
Well,well, what a response to my original message! I think I can say to nearly everyone on this forum, "you're a poet and you don't know it"!
I do hope at least some of these rhymes will find their way onto the relevant BBC Radio 3 programme at www.bbc.co.uk/3 breakfast (hope I've got that right?).
However, I've noticed that some these verses, brilliant as they are, don't conform to the strict limerick rhythm. I'm afraid you need to keep your limericks "classical" and not indulge in "romantic" poetic license. :)
As a former teacher of English and student of linguistics, may I say that modern English usage is very happy with 'rapture' in the singular in the context of Alan's last line, so there is no need to call on poetic licence to justify the rhyme. Indeed, W.S. Gilbert had no problem with using 'rapture' in the singular as a synonym for 'joy' - "Oh Joy! Oh rapture unforeseen!"; HMS Pinafore. The technically imperfect rhyme of 'Rufinatscha' with 'capture' also seems to me to be perfectly acceptable (even, dare I say, rather good) in the form of a limerick, where historical examples show half-rhymes abounding.
I just thought getting Rufinatscha into a limerick was neat and clever, and I enjoyed it. Well done, Alan!
Sorry folks, I got it wrong. The address for your serious limericks (and remember they have to be serious!) is:
3breakfast@bbc.co.uk
Good luck!
Thanks, friends, for your kind, nay poetic comments.
I think my hesitation over rapture (singular) was the context - i.e. you send someone into 'raptures', not 'rapture' - it was a usage that my Chambers confirmed.
I've always found the process of writing somewhat obsessional - when you start writing, when do you stop...?
(Don't worry: I've thrown in this particular towel for good!)
I've now sent in my limerick to the BBC together with a somewhat lengthy covering letter and await with interest any repercussions. I included the address of this web site and warned them that they may receive further limericks from other forum members in a similar vein.
Glad you warned me, Mark! Ouch!