Can’t get into poetry?
The Mission
Imagine the (unlikely, unwelcome, possibly unattractive) blind date ice-breaker, “If you were a poem which poem would you be?” Well, if you are reading this and also happen to be Peter Andre, Robert Pattison or Nick Clegg, firstly wow hello, and secondly imagine no more – Rhyming Couplets has answered this not-so-age-old question for you (and as a broad rule of thumb don’t blindly go for ‘Lady Lazarus’ imagining it suggests a racy Miss Whiplash allure). Each celebrity is matched or “rhymed” with a poem to show that poetry doesn’t have to be lofty or inaccessible. It speaks of love and birth and death and those things that touch us all (as well as occasionally cars and dental charts and what it might be like to be a pig). Lyrics belonged to poetry long before pop and poets were celebrities once themselves, a long time ago, so if you are struggling to get in why not browse for your favourite celeb and discover a favourite poem too. So c’mon people, let’s put the ode in mode, the verse in Versace and join with me to answer that burning question, “Which limerick would Lady Gaga have tattooed on her bony behind?”
The “I Ain’t Dissing” Disclaimer
But, all this comes with one hefty disclaimer: Rhyming Couplets is in no way saying that the poems chosen are of equal value or equivalent to the celebrities it couples them with. After all, things that rhyme aren’t the same – anyone who thinks that a cat is like a hat is like a mat should be reported to the RSPCA. No, this is just a colossal bit of silliness and excuse to talk about the poems I love. So, rather than offending any of the poets I so admire let me say I only wish the poems were more like their rhymed celebrities in terms of profile and profit-making-power!
Marriage Makes More Not Less
The Rhymer
Rhyming Couplets is a crusader for poetry, dedicated to saving it from the accusation of being “too difficult”, “too abstract”, “too irrelevant” (and also championing it for sometimes being difficult and abstract and anti-relevant). She is not yet a caped crusader but if she were to wear a cape would like it to be made from Yeats’:
embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and sliver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light
(From Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven)
Copyright
Fair Dealing Notice
I aim to include the poem being discussed at the end of each post for the educational benefit of readers. However, I also sincerely wish to respect the copyright of authors and so sometimes link to where the content is reproduced elsewhere instead. In these cases the link opens in a new window for easy comparison with the critical commentary being given. Occasionally this website may present copyrighted material the use of which might not always have been specifically authorised by the copyright-holder, but in all cases I credit the author of the work (or state if it is anonymous) and try to include references to the published work from which it is drawn.
However, if any copyright-holder has objections I will remove the content from published display and hope that they recognise that all material is used in the spirit and within the definition of “fair dealing” (as provided for by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988) for education, examination, criticism, review (and above all for appreciation) and not for profit or commercial gain. (Rhyming Couplets loves poetry and only wants to see it well-served, including by herself.)
Commentary and Notes Copyright © 2012 Rhyming Couplets
Excerpts of content may be quoted as long as a link is provided back to the source page on this blog and authorship is properly attributed.
