Saturday, July 22, 2006

Poem with rhymes spurned by Auden and Bishop   [boomerang riff]

W. H. Auden once promised his readers he'd never again rhyme an "s" sound and a "z" sound, however concordant they might look on the page (dose, rose). Similarly, late in life, Elizabeth Bishop explained to her students that although she'd once rhymed plural and singular (chests, rest), she planned never to do so again.
        -- Brad Leithauser, "Wild Irish"

I took an almost lethal dose
inhaling such a heady rose
I awoke upon the cushy chests
of mermaids lapped in aquatic rest
for a sea of scent all senses dozed
I abandoned track of nose and toes
we spake no more of host nor guest
dualities fade like bygone pests!

all earthly woes approached their close
time hadn't frozen yet came close!
for I forgot its thorns and tests
the bitter hidden in its jest
seemed sweet betimes   delight arose
I took an almost lethal dose


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