5/17 Skeltonics 101

BC Williams Thu May 17 2012, 06:40

"And now, ladies and gentlemen . . . FROGS, as preformed by Red Skelton"

Frogs-Frogs-Frogs-they are everywhere.
Frogs-Frogs-Frogs-croaking fills the the air.
Louder-Louder-Louder-is their blasted blare.
There's no silence through the night.

Thanks Red, but I'm afraid that's not quite what I had in mind:-)

As wonderfully fun as Red Skelton's poem is, I'm thinking of another sort of poetry called: Skeltonics. Here's the man that inspired the form . . .

Mr John Skelton (ca.1460-1529)

Skeltonic verse features short, irregular lines with multiple rhymes, written in a tumbling, helter-skelter style.

Think scat-tat-mat-rat sort of end rhyme (multiple end rhyme)

Short lines of of no more than 6 or 7 words

Here's an example from John called: Quintus Passus

Nowe in cometh another rabell ;
Fyrst one wyth a ladell,
Another wyth a cradell,
And wyth a syde sadell :
And there began a fabell,
A clatterynge and a babell
Of folys fylly
That had a fole wyth wylly,
With, Iast you, and, gup, gylly !
She coulde not lye stylly.
Then came in a genet,
And sware by saynct Benet,
I drank not this sennet
A draught to my pay ;
Elynour, I thé pray,
Of thyne ale let vs assay,
And haue here a pylche of gray
I were skynnes of conny,
That causeth I loke so donny.
Another than did hyche her,
And brought a pottel pycher,
A tonnel, and a bottell,
But she had lost the stoppell ;
She cut of her sho sole,
And stopped therwyth the hole.
Amonge all the blommer,
Another brought a skommer,
And vgly thycke lypped,
Lyke an onyon syded,
Lyke tan ledder hyded :
She had her so guyded
Betwene the cup and the wall,
That she was there wythall
Into a palsey fall ;
Wyth that her hed shaked,
And her handes quaked :
Ones hed wold haue aked
To se her naked :
She dranke so of the dregges,
The dropsy was in her legges ;
Her face glystryng lyke glas ;
All foggy fat she was ;
She had also the gout
In all her ioyntes about ;
Her breth was soure and stale,
And smelled all of ale :
Suche a bedfellaw
Wold make one cast his craw ;
But yet for all that
She dranke on the mash fat.
There came an old rybybe ;
She haltedof a kybe,
And had broken her shyn
At the threshold comyng in,
And fell so wyde open
That one myght se her token,
The deuyll thereon be wroken !
What nede all this be spoken ?
She yelled lyke a calfe :
Ryse vp, on Gods halfe,
Said Elynour Rummyng,
I beshrew thé for thy cummyng !
And as she at her did pluck,
Quake, quake, sayd the duck
In that lampatrams lap ;
Wyth, Fy, wouer thy shap
Wyth sum flyp flap !
God gyue it yll hap,
Sayde Elynour for shame,
Lyke an honest dame.
Vp she stert, halfe lame,
And skantly could go
For payne and for wo.
In came another dant,
Wyth a gose and a gant :
She had a wide wesant ;
She was nothynge plesant ;
Necked lyke an olyfant ;
It was a bullyfant,
A gredy cormerant.
Another brought her garlyke hedes ;
Another brought her bedes
Of iet or of cole,
To offer to the ale pole :
Some brought a wymble,
Some brought a thymble,
Some brought a sylke lace,
Some brought a pyncase,
Some her husbandes gowne,
Some a pyllow of downe,
Some of the napery ;
And all this shyfte they make
For the good ale sake.
A strawe, sayde Bele, stande vtter,
For we haue egges and butter,
And of pygeons a payre.
Than sterte forth a fysgygge,
And she brought a bore pygge ;
The fleshe thereof was ranke,
And her brethe strongly stanke,
Yet, or she went, she dranke,
And gat her great thanke
Of Elynour for her ware,
That she thyther bare
To pay for her share.
Now truly, to my thynkynge,
This is a solempne drinkynge.

Have fun! I think this is doable for ALL of us . . .

bev

Lucie Thu May 17 2012, 11:16

Hmmmm inter-esting
I be guess-ing
this will get us all a-messing....

Lucie Thu May 17 2012, 12:05

It wasn't how to keep a breed!
Twas their responsibilty, agreed.
Disgusted, they were left to proceed
When they had faultered to pay heed.
Such poor conditions, oh indeed!!
And rarely fed the proper feed
A passionate breeder's heart would bleed
To let this go, f'noubt but greed.
They must be punished to mislead
To breed and sell and to deceive
I'LL stop it NOW. and I'll suceed
A good deed done. for they'll be freed..

BC Williams Thu May 17 2012, 13:09

Nicely done, Lucie! Boy, you kept the multiple rhymes just afiring:-) Your topic is heart wrenching - one only needs to look at the breeds of yesteryear compared with modern breeds to see that man has seriously messed with God's nature. Too sad. But great writing!!!

red star

bev

BC Williams Thu May 17 2012, 13:24

Here's a piece I did a few years ago. I didn't at the time know it was skeltonics - I just got fired up, lol.

.............

.............
.........Trauma King

5/17 Skeltonics 101 Intern10

Course ALL have heard of Drama Queens
with Farah hair and tight blue jeans,
they're stingy robot-like machines
with heads of selfish *me* routines.
But I'll not bore you with their tripe
instead, I'll share a different gripe -
a species with the same sad hype,
his thoughts of "ME" are just as trite.
A Trauma King is in the midst
No foolin' now, he does exist
A selfish subcutaneous cyst
who's feigning words all should resist.
He lays in wait for those in pain,
listening hard while they explain
then reels them in while they complain
of wicked hurts they can't retain.
Then once he has them in his hand
and has them at his full command,
that's when the King will make his stand -
after all, the 'King' is grand.
They'll follow him where ere he goes
for it is HIM these chosen chose
to show their dreams, their needs disclose
and lay their tender heart exposed.
Then subtle hints begin to rise,
at first it takes them by surprise
they hadn't thought they'd hear his cries
or think he thought his life demise.
So soon the King needs sympathy,
but fears they've lost their empathy,
he worries for his monotony,
so debuts his selfish symphony.
Then woe is him and woe is you
he makes the sad ones feel quite blue,
he makes their hearts feel all askew
with all his words untrue.
A Trauma King is in the midst
No foolin' now, he does exist,
A selfish subcutaneous cyst
who's feigning words we must resist!

................ © July 2008 by BC Williams

Lucie Thu May 17 2012, 15:23

wow. I like this very much, well done you, indeed.

Sue McDonald Thu May 17 2012, 17:02

Wow well done both of you !!! These are awesome .....I will try when Gabrielle has a sleep, don't know if this is quite up my street !!! Like a Star @ heaven

BC Williams Thu May 17 2012, 18:20

Sue, most of us poets here deal in end rhyme. That's not a problem . . . just think of your end rhyme in multiples, keep the line count short (hard for you and I both, lol) and I bet - no, I know you can do this!

Come on, I double dare ya:-)

Lucie Fri May 18 2012, 09:37

If the dead could speak, what would they say?
Get up. Get out and live your day
For I am dust and bones that lay
But to live again, just once, I pray..

BC Williams Fri May 18 2012, 13:10

Eerie!

BC Williams Fri May 18 2012, 15:54

........The Non-Sense Chronicles
...................Chapter Thirty-Seven

................."I found myself trapped in thought -
.................doin' not near what I aught,
.................so this all seems for naught
.................and won't get me doodlin' squat.
.................But Barney, I must keep moving!
.................Even though most will be disapproving
.................and won't much like my grooving,
.................I'm laughin', cuz it's just amusing!"

................................................... (392)

peewee Fri May 18 2012, 21:29

O God I hope this is right lol

This challenge is a strain
I won’t be doing it again
I don’t think it could be worse
Always rhyming every verse

I keep scratching my head
Even in my bed
All I dream about is rhyming
Then I worry about the timing

By the end of the night
I think I’ve got it right
Then I think up some odd change
Then all the words I rearrange

My head is feeling sore
Don’t think I’ll scratch it any more
I have this crazy dream
That I will run out of steam

But then I reach the end
All this time I had to spend
A challenge it was no doubt
Hope I figured this one out

BC Williams Fri May 18 2012, 22:01

Pretty bad when it gets painful, lol! No Pete, you did just fine:-) Thanks buddy!

peewee Fri May 18 2012, 22:04

Didn't take as long as I thought it would
You bad girl you got me thinking and that's never a good sign lol

jinettyx Sat May 19 2012, 14:26

Danger,danger! everywhere!
Peewee had a little scare
Rubbed his head 'til it was bare
Now the poor chap's got no hair!
Asked to do a different rhyme
Thought about it for a time
Turns out he wasn't out of sinc
But it took him almost to the brink!
affraid

looby Sat May 19 2012, 14:39

Bravo my fellow poets ! x

peewee Sat May 19 2012, 15:28

I should begin
By thanking Jin
For commenting
On what I put in

Sitting here in the early light
After worrying about it half the night
stressing so much that I turned white
You've never seen such a sight

It wasn't as hard as I once thought
The literal trap I was almost caught
So I sailed off to a different port
And found a poem of a different sort

jinettyx Sat May 19 2012, 15:56

Well done 'sausage!' xx sunny

Lucie Sun May 20 2012, 08:31

funny! :)

Sue McDonald Tue May 22 2012, 07:36

Skeltonics was the prompters prompt
not quite sure if this is what she'll want
the words inside my head just chant
not flowing like water from a font
As I play with this a little more
I open up my front door
let in the dog with muddy paws
who chases the cat and dirtys the walls
muddy and wet they charge around
having some fun bouncing off the ground
they trip over my feet yet not making a sound
cat and dog a new friendship been found
as I try to put this poem in place
the house that was tidy is now a disgrace
the cat and the dog continue they're race
as I write this poem wiping mud off my face

© by Sue McDonald .....22/05/12

jinettyx Tue May 22 2012, 14:54

Haha!...Love it Sue! xxx

looby Fri May 25 2012, 10:52

Listen to the voices of the tiny bairns today
Laughing as they skip and dart about their merry way
watching as their carefree thoughts are turned into their play
Whilst devouring a bag 0'sweets. no fret of tooth decay.
And Up n'down the street as children run n'scoot in display
My heart is warmed to happiness. tis a lighter shade of grey.

BC Williams Fri May 25 2012, 17:08

Sue . . .
it's good!
It has stood
like it should
when you didn't think it would
and it's GOOD!
Great!
You took the bait
and though you made us wait
I knew a POEM you'd create!

high 5

BC Williams Fri May 25 2012, 17:12

Looby, y're po'em is too sweet! I love that quaint term bairns:-) Makes me think you're a wee bit Scot or Irish. Lovely work dear!

YES!

Lucie Sat May 26 2012, 01:00

Thank ye treacle x

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