Ta-rum ta-ra

 

The following is an example of writing which is restricted by the writer’s insistence on end-rhymes and rigid rhythm. One can get one’s meaning across more accurately and more interestingly by using words and phrases that blow freely in the wind,and create a  figurative, imaginative language that might rhyme in different places but certainly flows smoothly and rhythmically.

 

Ta-rum ta-ra

 

As time goes by my memory’s fading

of dodgy deals and tax evading.

But I do recall a trip to France

on which I met a girl by chance.

 

In the cathedral of central Coutances,

known for its tourists and French élégance.

people went up and down the aisle

in a quietly subdued and respectful style.

 

All of a sudden I heard a girl sing

several verses of “Master and King”.

Contralto in pitch with little vibrato

top of the mouth and nothing staccato. etc….etc

 

Poems in this form were good in the old days

when reciting from memory was a desired

outcome, as in the following verse which helped

learners of Spanish who were about to sit an

O-level written exam.

 

Here is how the subjunctive functions:

with these adverbial conjunctions:

as if, without, in order that,

although, unless, provided that.

“¡Ojalá!”  the Moors would cry

and doubt, command, forbid, deny,

avoid, permit, desiring too

and all emotions, here’s a few:

hope and fear and feeling sad

astonishment and feeling glad;

clause with “when” if future meaning,

clause with “if”   unlikely seeming.  etc.   etc.