Brexit Bluesology ( a quintern*)

God, this would make such a good folk song. It’s almost worth the challenge. 😂

Fab write. It’ll all be over soon. Hang on in there!

-M

Thanks Missy, you're the musical one I think. I wrote it with a folky-bluesy thing in mind   :))

Yes. I am “the musical one”. Girl does indeed sing. 👍🏻

-M

Let's hope that common sense prevail. You are a wizard my friend. J

Yep, thanks J. This one I think in part grew out of our previous 'Brexit' exchange. So thanks for that.  :))

Interesting metre ... did it do what you intended it to do?

Like your ref ... all very Ezra Pound / Peter Dale Scott ...

"Interesting metre ... did it do what you intended it to do?"
That's what I always find the interesting question - ie: which poetic forms best suit certain content/themes/messages? I keep reading about it but not yet really  getting a good feel for it.
I suppose if I had thought about it a bit more, to be actually sung as a folksy-bluesy thing, then maybe the ballad form of alternate cross-rhymed iambic tetrameter/trimeter might have been the professional choice.
I started out with the idea of a key 'refrain line' progressing down the poem (so thought of quaterns) but also wanted two consecutive lines to rhyme in each verse to add an opportunity for emphasis, so added a fifth line to enable that to happen.
As for the metre, the first line I wrote 'read' to me as amphibrachs, so continued with that rhythm in my head. How that relates to being appropriate to either blues/folk, or content, I'm not sure.

Thanks for taking the time and trouble to reply.  I found your note really interesting because what you describe is my problem.  For example, as you may have noticed, I like Pushkin stanza since it has feminine endings, -ings or -tions scattered about it.  This makes it easier to rhyme ... but whether or not this form is appropriate to what I'm trying to say ?????  I have no clue since, I'm still trying to find my feet.  (When I say clue I mean the original Greek for thread to get out of the maze).

In one of my attempts I used a tetrameter but it felt very, very wrong.  But as to trying to rationalise why this was so  ... I dunno ...

Anyway, looking forward to reading more of your work and making useful comments in the hope of getting more useful replies.

ps ,,, it shames me not to have got more out ... working for a living can be quite crap.

"In one of my attempts I used a tetrameter but it felt very, very wrong.  But as to trying to rationalise why this was so  ... I dunno ..."

I'm currently re-reading Stephen Fry's "The Ode Less Travelled" (and getting much more out of it second time round). Certain poetic forms have developed over time and come to be associated with 'the right choice' for certain topics. EG: the Limerick form (because of our association with it) would not lend itself as appropriate for a grave-side eulogy (unless the recently deceased were a comedian, perhaps) - but there's the thing.
"Appropriate" choice of metre/form is in eternal development, as I guess is right for the growth of any art-form. The next generation challenges the perceived and accepted 'norms' of the previous generation, who in their day challenged their forbears.

A "feel" for what is the right form/metre to express a particular theme is as good a guide as any, and helps push the boundaries of the art-form, with the proviso that the poet/(artist) is knowledgeable about the traditional 'palette' of options - and can therefore choose with some degree of 'feel' that is informed from his soul (as it were) by having read and inculcated a lot of poetry.

I'm told 50% of a poet's work is to read other poets, so that poetry-at-large goes under their skin - from which their 'feel' is guided. Rationalising things can come later - initially we need to be guided by (informed) instinct, imagination, intuition and inspiration. Intellect can figure out the nuts & bolts later.

I'm not sure if I'm making any sense - indeed I'm writing to get clear myself - thinking out loud.

thanks for the reply ...

"I'm not sure if I'm making any sense - indeed I'm writing to get clear myself - thinking out loud." ... which makes it all the more interesting.

Love your idea of the quintern.  That, and the political content of this, which is amazing.  I agree with those above who speak of this as blues worth an musical accompaniment.  Any chance of an AV version?  In any case, I learn more every time I read you.  Excellent work.

Thank you again Crowfly. I could try my own audio (not sung, no way) to see how it feels for further development.
A long time ago I had an LP where a recording of some Jim Morrison poems was (after he died) added to with backing tracks from The Doors. Jim's slow rhythmic reading of his own poems allowed a steady beat of music to be added - a kind of early version of Spoken Word Poetry with backing-track. Ray Manzarek (the keyboards player) was, as always (RIP now) amazingly creative.

I had enormous respect for Ray Manzarek.  Not only did he add so much to The Doors, but he went on to produce, and perform, with X, arguably the finest of rockabilly punk bands.  Like all The Doors' members, he was a major talent himself.

you old remoaner, you .. :)

Moanin' an' groanin' is what the blues is all about   :))