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Sunday 13 June 2010

The Etymological Poetry Bus

Recently I have been noting down the spam-slamming code "words" that confront one on some blogs, for some have amused me and the thought arose that with enough to choose from they might naturally fall into a nonsense rhyme of some sort. Then I found that one of two optional challenges set by Revolutionary Revelry for this week's Poetry Bus involved a search for the etymology of one's name and the writing of a poem relating to it. My name, as it happens, derives from Early English and, yes, the cadoodling code words looked and sounded every bit as Anglo Saxon as nonsense - or so I thought. So if you will excuse my (very basic) Anglo Saxon, here is my offering:

Nistram Cyning unmolers his stiessen
in the pheersch heete of the sunne.
Jectigging akrost the skiiy, a skryhork
ovvamann, he phlabbifibbles hisswae
to Trigoch Chlestivvi wharr is Scornordold Horll.
Cyning, fust muddller of linnieaal names,
weel mackhisselv King, as I am King,
for from the Early English Cyning
cummes King - promo
tingim from Tribal Leader
to be krounedd in Scornordold Horll,
wharr is lerkynd to this tyme the menny gosts
of Nistram and his dishprate ckrewe. 

I have tried to use only the security "words" I came across and small words, prepositions and the like. I have not been entirely successful in that and have had to raid modern English for "Tribal", for "leader", "Early English" and for "King". "Cyning", of course is the odd one out - it is genuinely Old English. Occasionally I have conflated two shorter "words" to make a longer one.

17 comments:

@ctors Business said...

Wow, Dave this takes me back to secondary school! It's going to take a while for me to really read and understand this as it 's been a long while since I had anything to do with Anglo Saxon! But the little I do understand, I like. Are there no ends to your literary talents?

Becca McCallum said...

Oh, I like this! Those spam-guard words can be quite amusing.

Jinksy said...

Just brilliant!

Unknown said...

Very clever, Dave and a good use for some of those word verifications!

Madame DeFarge said...

I have always enjoyed the spam words and it's good to see them put to such good use.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Very interesting. I see you have not tried to read it out in person though, Dave. I often think those word verification 'words' are fascinating (and often very apt)

Dave King said...

Gwei
Please don't scratch the grey matter too vigorously - it's more Goon Show than Canterbury Tales.
And yes, there is a limit. I think this may have just passed it.

Rebecca
Yes, I've grown reluctantly attached to them.

Jinksy
Thanks jinksy, much appreciated.

Derrick
I always knew they would come in useful one day.

Madame DeFarge
Yes, it gives them another justification, I agree.

The Weaver of Grass
No, I did pass that one up from the off. I wouldn't inflict that on my dearest foe. I agree about them being apt. I have often felt that myself. How strange! I wonder how that works...

Linda Sue said...

This poem makes total sense!

Tommaso Gervasutti said...

Dear Dave, is this the same of the Beowulf language?
I am Italian, as you know, and I am not sure of this.
But I think it's a feat.

Ronda Laveen said...

I really like the looks of your inventinve code language.

Harlequin said...

light hearted indeed... and a grand and noble use of some of the oddest conflation of letterwords in use

a nice creative project

Dave King said...

Linda Sue
First time ever, that! Hearty thanks.

Tommaso
The answer is yes - I think! If it was genuine, not genuine gobbledegook it would be the veryh same. It is (roughly) what I was trying to imitate.

Ronda
Thanks - I may patent it - you never know what uses for it might materialise.

Harlequin
Thanks a lot for that.

Lucy said...

That's so clever and funny! Wish I'd thought of it. A work of talent and patience and totally convincing.

Karen said...

This is a fun one, Dave! The words certainly do sound Anglo-Saxon, and the whole thing makes Spammy sense!

Unknown said...

Lewis Carroll goes to the Battle of Maldon! Great fun. I think my favorite is the "dishprate ckrewe," tho I also really like your usage of "mackhisselv"

Anonymous said...

Amerika est patria nostra, amerika est pulchra....does that make me a writer? I hope so.

Ann ODyne said...

"it's more Goon Show than Canterbury Tales" .. it's The Canterbury Goons.

My premiere arrival here is via two links, starting at Dominic Rivron.
Best regards to you from one of the interwebz dishprate ckrewe