Jan"s Poetry Class--CLERIHEW

[glorybee]

Okay, Allison, those are cute!

Now write one about a famous person. I know, I know, you'll be famous some day. But for now...pick someone else.

[glorybee]

Okay: how about this one then.

This one's for our good ole prime minister Kevin Rudd. Here's a bit of backstory: he had a hissy fit because the air force plane he was flying didn't have the kind of food he wanted. He ended up threatening a stewardess and reducing her to tears.

Good ole Kevin
Became prime minister in 07
He's jolly in public when seen
but get him alone and he's angry and mean.

Thanks for the background, Kevin!

This one's a good one.

[yvonne]

Freeing? *giggle*

I feel like I'm supposed to hop on one foot backwards with my eyes closed instead of skipping along to the tune in my head.

I know...I know...It's good for me to try something new! *SMILE*

Here's another one for practice:

President Ronald Reagan
A lot of grief has taken
But he stood his ground with a stiff upper lipper
For the Gipper.

[glorybee]

There you go, Yvonne! Love that last line.

[pheeweed]

I don't like having to say something in rhyme. Here's my poor attempt. Is this a forced rhyme or just bad grammar?

Richard Simmons
Is loved by the womens
Who shake their booties
Because he tells them they can be beauties

Phee

[Esther]

Big old Goliath
Was not quite a behemoth
David found a little rock
And gave him quite a nasty shock

Is there any rule about capitalizataion at the beginning of a line, even though it isn't a new sentence?

[GShuler]

I am offering proof that this type of poetry is way above my head and skill level:
(I am using this first one because I am famous in my own family.)

Gerald D. Shuler
Uses a ruler
For writing in meter...
But clarihews are definately sweeter.




Job
Doesn't rhyme with rob, but robe.
Does it matter, anyway?
He's not alive today.

another:

Sir Lancelot
got caught
with Gweneviere.
Oh, Dear.

Or how about this for an improvement?

Sir Lancelot
surely thought he'd not get caught
but this news was a blast
that traveled fast.

[Symphonic]

Oh, fun!! I’ve seen this type of poem before, but I didn’t know the technical name for it. Since “pointed political commentary” was disallowed, I admirably restrained my first impulse (Let’s see... what rhymes with “Obama”... or better yet, "Pelosi"?).

So here’s one for my little guy:

Simon Gabriel Slider
Fears spiders.
He loves roly-polies and garden slugs–
Just don’t call them “bugs.”

And here’s my “famous person” attempt:

Maurice Ravel
How many know him well?
His popular appeal would be quite narrow
If not for Bolero.


Carol S.

[Kid Denver]

Okay then ...

Babe Ruth
had a bad, rotten tooth
It made him swing and miss
So he went to the dentist

Al Capone
they said, was bad to the bone
Until they found his tax
and was sentenced to the max

Albert Einstein
was not given to the wiles of white wine
But, he did like a cabernet sauvignon in the vacinity
when he was studying relativity

Beethoven
was best known for composin'
but few actually knew
in liked the zebras at the zoo

Dr. Suess
wanted to write about a goose
but he was stuck on a tram
and wrote about green eggs and ham

Henry C.

PS Sorry...................

[swfdoc1]

OK, the first one is for someone who is famous AROUND HERE:

Jan Worgul Ackerson
Makes her Master Class lots of fun.
I really would tip my hat
If it weren’t for all those references to that darn cat.


And now for someone really famous :

William Henry Harrison
Believed in United States expansion.
But as President, Ol’ Tippecanoe
Died on day thrity-two.

[glorybee]

I don't like having to say something in rhyme. Here's my poor attempt. Is this a forced rhyme or just bad grammar?

Richard Simmons
Is loved by the womens
Who shake their booties
Because he tells them they can be beauties

Phee

Phee, I appreciate your stretching yourself!

This fits all of the criteria--except that it doesn't really poke fun at Richard Simmons. It's hard, because it's not in our nature to make fun of people, and we don't want to be mean...but that's the way of the clerihew.

This is awfully clever, though, and I love your Simmons/womens rhyme!

[glorybee]

And here’s my “famous person” attempt:

Maurice Ravel
How many know him well?
His popular appeal would be quite narrow
If not for Bolero.


Carol S.

Oh great, Carol...now you've got that song in my mind...

Really clever clerihew! It's just nicer to poke fun at people who are no longer with us, don't you think?

Got any more for us?

[glorybee]

Albert Einstein
was not given to the wiles of white wine
But, he did like a cabernet sauvignon in the vacinity
when he was studying relativity

Dr. Suess
wanted to write about a goose
but he was stuck on a tram
and wrote about green eggs and ham

Henry C.

PS Sorry...................

No need to apologize, Henry...ya done good.

That's pretty painful, isn't it? I LOVE the Einstien one. See, it takes a good poet to be a deliberately bad poet.

[glorybee]

OK, the first one is for someone who is famous AROUND HERE:

Jan Worgul Ackerson
Makes her Master Class lots of fun.
I really would tip my hat
If it weren’t for all those references to that darn cat.


And now for someone really famous :

William Henry Harrison
Believed in United States expansion.
But as President, Ol’ Tippecanoe
Died on day thrity-two.

Oh Steven, Steven, Steven...don't be disparaging my cat. She'll get angry...and you don't want to be around Miss Sophie when she's angry.

Love the Harrison clerihew, though! Even the "thrity-two".

[glorybee]

Big old Goliath
Was not quite a behemoth
David found a little rock
And gave him quite a nasty shock

Is there any rule about capitalizataion at the beginning of a line, even though it isn't a new sentence?

Esther this is a really cute clerihew!

As in most non-free verse poetry, the first word of each line should be capitlaized. Great question!