Playing with poetry forms

[Lion of Lions]

At my school all the geeky kids studied poetry, they were divided into two classes, and all were understandbly ostracized by the more active kids. At break time they hung around in the corners of the playground whispering "haiku", "no, I haikued you first" "you're a nerd" "no, you're verse than I am" and so on. I felt really sorry for them and decided to start a game of baseball for these loser types.

Our daily ganes actually became really successful. We introduced rules like the pitcher had to recite a simple couplet before his second throw, the striker had to finish a quatrain before he reached Home Base.

Although I never really felt that I belonged I was happy to be playing with poetry forms.

[lizzytysh]

That's a really cool thing to have done, Lion. Not just creative, but productive and affirming.


~ Lizzy

[mickey_one]

At my school all the geeky kids studied poetry, they were divided into two classes, and all were understandbly ostracized by the more active kids. At break time they hung around in the corners of the playground whispering "haiku", "no, I haikued you first" "you're a nerd" "no, you're verse than I am" and so on. I felt really sorry for them and decided to start a game of baseball for these loser types.

Our daily ganes actually became really successful. We introduced rules like the pitcher had to recite a simple couplet before his second throw, the striker had to finish a quatrain before he reached Home Base.

Although I never really felt that I belonged I was happy to be playing with poetry forms.

what a brilliant pun on the word "forms", L of L. It may be, however, that Americans do not use that word to mean "class" so your audience appreciation may be limited to Brits and perhaps other Europeans.

[lizzytysh]

"Forms" might get used here in the sense of a swimmer having great 'form' when they swim or a diver when they make a dive or a golfer when they make a swing [the body aligned and moving as it ought to be]. With humour, if someone's being particularly witty, you might say, "You're in great form tonight." Even though these usages could be said to have shades of the meaning of "class" [in the sense of "she's classy;" unless you mean class in the sense of a poetry course of study], I don't recall its being used in ways other than these mentioned. Well, I guess "classes" of things are divisions according to type, too; so there are likely even more meanings/connotations.


~ Lizzy

[mickey_one]

"Forms" might get used here in the sense of a swimmer having great 'form' when they swim or a diver when they make a dive or a golfer when they make a swing [the body aligned and moving as it ought to be]. With humour, if someone's being particularly witty, you might say, "You're in great form tonight." Even though these usages could be said to have shades of the meaning of "class" [in the sense of "she's classy;" unless you mean class in the sense of a poetry course of study], I don't recall its being used in ways other than these mentioned. Well, I guess "classes" of things are divisions according to type, too; so there are likely even more meanings/connotations.


~ Lizzy

I know those meanings of course. but in England you start school in the first form and go onto the 6th form etc. so the whole story was about him playing with the poetry class, or "poetry form". everyone here would know that, even a waitron.

[lizzytysh]

I tend not to presume anything anymore about what any of us knows about the others' varied use of the English language. When I first arrived in London, I mentioned something to my friend about my fanny pack. That's the common term here. I can't remember what your term there is for it, but she wasn't aware of ours, which apparently was a bit on the profane side there, and I wasn't aware of yours, whatever it is [it seemed close]. Since you didn't say what it did mean to the Brits and Europeans, I just went on a scavenger hunt for it.

Now that you've said that, I do remember hearing that use of the word form, about four years ago when we were talking about grade levels in school, but had completely forgotten it.


~ Lizzy