There was a poet called Theophilus Marzials (1850 - 1920) who is sometimes accused of having written the world's worst poem. In his day he was a successful writer and it only since his death that the critteratti have spiked into him. Oscar uses this as an argument against having any form of success in this world. Now, I like Theo's poem and so you know what I'm talking about - here it is.
A Tragedy
Theophilus Marzials
The barges down in the river flop.
- Death! Plop.
From the slimy branches the grey drips drop,
- Flop, plop.
- Above, beneath.
As they scraggle black on the thin grey sky,
Where the black cloud rack-hackles drizzle and fly
To the oozy waters, that lounge and flop
On the black scrag piles, where the loose cords plop,
As the raw wind whines in the thin tree-top.
The boatmen call out hoy! and hey!
- Plop, plop.
- And scudding by
All is running water and sky,
* * * * *
- And my head shrieks -- "Stop,"
- And my heart shrieks -- "Die."
My thought is running out of my head;
My love is running out of my heart,
My soul runs after, and leaves me as dead,
For my life runs after to catch them -- and fled
They all are every one! -- and I stand, and start,
At the water that oozes up, plop and plop,
On the barges that flop
And dizzy me dead.
I might reel and drop.
Plop.
Dead.And the shrill wind whines in the thin tree-top
Flop, plop.
* * * * *
A curse on him.
Ugh! yet I knew -- I knew --
If a woman is false can a friend be true?
It was only a lie from beginning to end --
I had trusted the whole of my living to!
- My Devil -- My "Friend"
And my head is empty as air --
- Ugh; and I knew!
- Ugh!
- So what do I care,
And let myself all run away with my head
- I can do,
- I can dare,
- (Plop, plop
- The barges flop
- Drip drop.)
- I can dare! I can dare!
And stop.
Plop.
- Drop.
- Dead.
- Plop, flop.
Just read on from "slimy branches" through to "thin tree top." To me it is a poem teeming with drippy droppiness and flappy ploppy flopshiousness. Of course, its absolute lusciousness of vocab kinda does away with the sentiment of TRAGEDY which he is trying to capture. I like it because a guy wrote it when he had trouble with a woman and whatever was going on this trace of of love remains and I am here reading it and talking about it. Theo - you were a man who wrote poems. Time has made you a poet in my heart. Over to to you guys......
More international MARKET people all day talking about what they want the world to do. Is there any further point in the pretence of having meaningful national democratic governments?
Emma thinx: Economic Feudalism - the noble savage serving the savage noble.
Had I come across this written version of Marzials' poem, I would have merely chuckled and moved on, but since hearing Oscar's reading of it, it is amazing! Oscar is brilliant! I shall not get that voice out of my head forevermore! Thank you for posting!
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