Discussion
One of the three poems I know by heart (leaving aside limericks and such) is Philip Larkin’s “This Be the Verse”: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48419/this-be-the-verse
However, I prefer my “Man passes misery onto man” to his “Man hands on misery to man.” What do you think? (Is getting that line wrong why he declined the position of Poet Laureate?)
I also prefer my “They give you all the faults they had” to Larkin’s “They fill you with the faults they had.” (Maybe “gift” instead of “give”?)
And I think “By fools in old-style hats and coats” is better as “By *folk* in old-style hats and coats.” That fits better, I think, with “they may not mean to, but they do.”
King Charles: have your people contact my people, re: Poet Laureate.
Oh, I also prefer “Get out as quickly as you can” to “Get out as early as you can.” It just sounds better, but perhaps not with an English accent.
@marick "passes on" vs "hands on" changes the accents quite a bit. I admit it scans a little more readily to our ear. But I'm not sure that is always the point. "Passes" is a trochee, and "hands on" is a spondee.*
* = meter, and those traditional words for it, is a very complicated topic, and depends very much on the listener.
@GeePawHill I think I have a fairly untrained ear for meter because I do not hear a voice in my head when I read.
I’m learning, though. Tom Perotta’s /The Leftovers/ really works well when read aloud – I as reader find the word choice, rhythm of the sentences, etc. really pushes me into a particular… tone? that (I think) matches the book.
Similar experience to when I read Dawn /Great Expectations/. As a reader, I find myself inhabiting the narrative voice.
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