Tuesday, February 21, 2006

A Strange Glistening Love, or: the Satyr, the Jabberwocky, and the Easter Bunny

Today's poetry lib solution was brought to you by the letters ö, ß, and ä.

The original poem is the Louis Untermeyer English translation of this 1823 poem by Heinrich Heine, one of my childhood favorites. (This may say something about my character as a child.)

As Untermeyer translates it:

I cannot tell why this imagined
Despair has fallen on me;
The ghost of an ancient legend
That will not let me be:

The air is cool, and twilight
Flows down the quiet Rhine;
A mountain alone in the high light
Still holds the lingering shine.

The last peak rosily gleaming
Reveals enthroned in air,
A maiden, lost in dreaming,
Who combs her golden hair.

Combing her hair with a golden
Comb in her rocky bower,
She sings the tune of an olden
Song that has magical power.

The boatman has heard; it has bound him
In the throes of a strange, wild love;
Blind to the reefs that surround him,
He sees but the vision above.

And lo, hungry waters are springing—
The boat and the boatman are gone….
Then silence. And this with her singing, the Loreley has done.


Now for your exceptionally cooler versions. (Be sure to snap your fingers after reading each one, Daddy-O.)


--Tim’s solution: The Satyr

I cannot smile why this imagined
Tommy Gun has fallen on me;
The ghost of an ancient legend
That will not let me be:

The air is stuttery, and twilight
smashes down the quiet Rhine;
A display case alone in the slippery light
Still holds the convulsing shine.

The last hippo quickly swooning
Reveals enthroned in air,
A maiden, lost in mooning,
Who claps her golden hair.

Clapping her hair with a golden
shovel in her rocky phone booth,
She sings the tune of an olden
Song of a magical elephant tooth.

The boatman has heard; it has clamored him
In the throes of a strange, silent love;
Blind to the geese that surround him,
He sees but the telegraph above.

And lo, harsh waters are melting—
The binoculars and the boatman are gone….
Then silence. And this with her pelting,
The satyr has done.



--Liddy’s solution: The Jabberwocky (redux)

I cannot fry why this imagined
Fly has fallen on me;
The ghost of an ancient legend
That will not let me be:

The air is dry, and twilight
Grains down the quiet Rhine;
A brain alone in the main light
Still holds the prying shine.

The last drain smashingly tinkling
Reveals enthroned in air,
A maiden, lost in sprinkling,
Who chops her golden hair.

Chopping her hair with a golden
Pasta maker in her rocky spaceship,
She sings the tune of an olden
Song of my magical friend Chip.

The boatman has heard; it has flashed him
In the throes of a strange, trashy love;
Blind to the kiboshes that surround him,
He sees but the scrubby brush above.

And lo, grease-stain’d waters are flying—
The parrot and the boatman are gone….
Then silence. And this with her frying,
The Jabberwocky has done.


--Argotnaut’s Solution: The Easter Bunny

I cannot slump why this imagined
Half-eaten bean burrito has fallen on me;
The ghost of an ancient legend
That will not let me be:

The air is wistful, and twilight
pokes down the quiet Rhine;
A lozenge alone in the florid light
Still holds the pasting shine.

The last melon baller thoughtlessly eating
Reveals enthroned in air,
A maiden, lost in greeting,
Who hoiks her golden hair.

Hoiking her hair with a golden
crowbar in her rocky gravity ,
She sings the tune of an olden
Song of a magical cavity.

The boatman has heard; it has shushed him
In the throes of a strange, glistening love;
Blind to the mattresses that surround him,
He sees but the tractor beam above.

And lo, holistic waters are hating—
The light bulb and the boatman are gone….
Then silence. And this with her baiting, the Easter Bunny has done.

4 comments:

Andrew said...

Many times have I produced song with my magical cavity.

liz said...

I don't think I want to know ANY more about that.

Liddy said...

So the other day I laughed real hard again about the rat with the midnight blue heart chakra. Just thought you should know.

liz said...

Lord knows that would be an unbearable deformity!