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<div>First, allow me to introduce you to Frederick Douglass, a
poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar which begins:</div>
<div><br>
A hush is over all the teeming lists,</div>
<div>And there is pause, a breath-space in the strife;<br>
A spirit brave has passed beyond the mists<br>
And vapors that obscure the sun of life.<br>
<br>
And Ethiopia, with bosom torn,<br>
Laments the passing of her noblest born.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>https://www.poetrysoup.com/famous/poem/frederick_douglass_20694</div
>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>(Was the reason there were so few votes, because people
recognized it? I'd never heard of it before.)</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Now let's put it in context -- that is, surrounded by
impostors!</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br>
A hush is over all the teeming lists,<br>
And there is pause, a breath-space in the strife;<br>
Until a shriek rings out, for through the mists<br>
Emerges Mordagraunt, the dragon-wife.</div>
<div> -- by David Randall</div>
<div> 1 point from Pierre</div>
<div><br>
<br>
A hush is over all the teeming lists,<br>
And there is pause, a breath-space in the strife;<br>
But ever does the squall resume, unbound,<br>
To scatter us like myriad dry leaves.<br>
-- by Jean-Joseph Cote</div>
<div> 1 point from Ranjit ("for daring not to
rhyme")</div>
<div> 2 points from David</div>
<div> 1 point from Hutch ("The only un-rhymed
entry. Makes it more believable. But a "squall"? While a
squall might be fierce ("unbound"), it is short-lived (not
"ever ... resume"ing).")<br>
</div>
<div><br>
A hush is over all the teeming lists,<br>
And there is pause, a breath-space in the strife;<br>
Methinks this War will go from swords to fists,<br>
But evenso, where there is Hope there's Life.<br>
-- by Linda Owens</div>
<div> 2 points from Pierre</div>
<div> Hutch: "Unless I'm wildly mistooken, the phrase
is the other way: "where there's life, there's hope". And
this rephrasing of Einstein's (?) quote about World Wars III and IV
doesn't make it for me."<br>
</div>
<div><br>
A hush is over all the teeming lists,<br>
And there is pause, a breath-space in the strife;<br>
>From up the mount descend the acrid mists,<br>
The lake o'erturns, the gases threaten life.<br>
-- by Pierre Abbat</div>
<div> 2 points from Ranjit ("for rare limnic
eruption poetry! (Actually, I'm no expert - perhaps lake overturning
is a common sonnet topic...)")</div>
<div> 1 point from Linda ("I have smelt one in my
faire towne, or I mean the town I used to live in. Very small yet deep
lake, very stinky smell.")<br>
</div>
<div><br>
A hush is over all the teeming lists,<br>
And there is pause, a breath-space in the strife;<br>
A spirit brave has passed beyond the mists<br>
And vapors that obscure the sun of life.<br>
-- by by Paul Laurence Dunbar</div>
<div> 1 point from David</div>
<div> 2 points from Hutch ("This one, being
directly before mine and using the same rhymes ("lists/mists"
and "strife/life") as mine was subconsciously eliminated as
soon as I saw it. However, 8 of the 14 rhyme completions (57%) match
one or another of mine, so that's not a valid elimination ... and I've
eliminated everything else for better reasons. So ...")</div>
<div> 1 point from Jean-Joseph</div>
<div> Pierre: "Rhyme scheme ABCD?
Unlikely."</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br>
A hush is over all the teeming lists,<br>
And there is pause, a breath-space in the strife;<br>
As o'er the battlefield the wafting mists<br>
Obscure the pain of wounds and loss of life.<br>
-- by Hutch<br>
2 points from Linda</div>
<div> 2 points from Jean-Joseph</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br>
A hush is over all the teeming lists,<br>
And there is pause, a breath-space in the strife;<br>
I'm really thankful Dramamine exists:<br>
My future husband has an awesome wife.</div>
<div> -- by (via?) Ranjit Bhatnagar. It was generated by
pentametron; the full explanation is included at the bottom of this
message.</div>
<div> Hutch: "*LOL* But shouldn't the final
line be "My future husband WILL have an awesome wife"??? Or
is the current wife he is cheating on with you really that awesome?
:-)"</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>General comments:</div>
<div>Linda: I loved this exercise and all answers were fabulous.
Must look up Mordagraunt</div>
<div>Hutch: This is going to be tough. Very "mist"y place
this "breath-space in the strife".</div>
<div>Jean-Joseph: Hmm, everybody opted for either "life" or
"wife" as the rhyme (except for my gambit of no rhyme at
all). No "knife", or "rife", or...?
Quite a few outlandish ones, daring anyone to vote for them. </div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>THE WINNER: Hutch! Not only did he bullseye the original
poem's "obscure", he even threw in that poetic
"o'er". (His score is 4+2 -- 4 points given to him by other
voters, plus 2 points from his correct guess). Jean-Joseph's
daring unrhyming stanza is close behind, with 4+1 points. Have
at it, Hutch.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>-Jim</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>At 9:44 PM -0500 11/20/17, Ranjit Bhatnagar wrote:</div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>In honor of nanogenmo <<a
href="https://github.com/NaNoGenMo/2017"
>https://github.com/NaNoGenMo/2017</a>> I had pentametron <<a
href="https://twitter.com/pentametron">https://twitter.com/pentametron</a
>> generate the poem for me. It also generated all these, which I
didn't bother to edit out of COMPUTER-TEXT:</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>I'M REALLY THANKFUL DRAMAMINE
EXISTS</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>SHE AIN'T A STRANGER TO THE CITY
LIFE</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>FOND OF APPRECIATING WHAT
EXISTS</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>APPRECIATE THE LITTLE THINGS IN
LIFE</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>BILL COSBY IS A PERSON THAT
EXISTS</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>SONS ARE THE ANCHORS OF A MOTHERS
LIFE</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>I JUST REMEMBERED ASHLEY MOORE
EXISTS</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>BE THANKFUL FOR THE LITTLE THINGS IN
LIFE</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>I NEVER KNEW CHINCHILLA CATS
EXISTS</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>DON'T MAKE A DONKEY OF YOURSELF IN
LIFE</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>I KEEP FORGETTING THIS ACCOUNT
EXISTS</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>SHE AIN'T A STRANGER TO THE CITY
LIFE</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>GREEK YOGURT IS THE REASON HELL
EXISTS</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>SHOULD REALLY TRY AND FIND A SOCIAL
LIFE</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>THE ONLY DISNEY MOVIE THAT
EXISTS</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>ANOTHER EMPTY BOTTLE TAKES A
LIFE</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>REMINDER SUNNY AFTERNOON
EXISTS</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>ANOTHER BOY WITHOUT A SHARPER
KNIFE</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>GOOD MORNING EVERYONE DESPAIR
PERSISTS</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>SCHOOL RUINED MY ALREADY RUINED
LIFE</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>SO HAPPY CHEESY GARLIC BREAD
EXISTS</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>I'M JUST A WEIGHT IN EVERYBODY'S
LIFE</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>APPRECIATE THE DARKNESS THAT
EXISTS</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>APPRECIATE THE LITTLE THINGS IN
LIFE</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>THEN I REMEMBERED ALCOHOL
EXISTS</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>ANOTHER EMPTY BOTTLE TAKES A
LIFE</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>DON'T WORRY INNER BEAUTY STILL
EXISTS</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>SONS ARE THE ANCHORS OF A MOTHERS
LIFE</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>I DON'T BELIEVE THE HUMAN RACE
EXISTS</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>TOO DOWN AND FEELING SHITTY WHAT A
LIFE</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>I KEEP FORGETTING HALLOWEEN
EXISTS</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>NAPS ARE IMPORTANT FOR A HEALTHY
LIFE</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>I'M REALLY HAPPY DRY SHAMPOO
EXISTS</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>CUTE PEOPLE RUIN MY ENTIRE
LIFE</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>BOYS ARE THE REASON ALCOHOL
EXISTS</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>PLAYS WITH HER FINGERS WAITING FOR HER
WIFE</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
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