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The Good Dr. Goodword noticed our Group Poem IV, the one using good words used within the past year. You can see his comment on the front page of alphadictionary.com (not the discussion board).

Since he gave us a bit of notoriety, I think we should return the favor with Group Poem Exercise V, "Ode to Doctor Goodword."

The rules are as follows:

We will write an English sonnet, which will contain 14 lines of iambic pentameter and will rhyme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. Reminder: iambic pentameter has five stressed syllables, each preceded by an unstressed one. (e.g., u s u s u s u s u s). Again, half rhymes (like rest and east) are acceptable if you get stuck or if it makes the line make sense, and a little fudging on the iambic rule will be OK, but the lines should still contain five stressed syllables.

Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 is an example.

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed:
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

As before, copy the title and lines of the previous post so the we can keep it all together.

Also as before, each line must contain one of the good words from the past year. If a word has been posted or commented on during the past year, it's fair game for inclusion. You can also use any form of a word (e.g., belie, belied, belying). Please bold the word you use from the Goodword list.

The title and first line are as follows:

ODE TO DOCTOR GOODWORD

He's like a hurdy-gurdy's endless tune

ODE TO DOCTOR GOODWORD

He's like a hurdy-gurdy's endless tune
Like hamsters' acquiescence to a wheel

May I change the order of the lines?

ODE TO DOCTOR GOODWORD

He's like a hurdy-gurdy's endless tune
Ground out with indefatigable zeal
[Line 3 to be inserted]
Like hamsters' acquiescence to a wheel

May I change the order of the lines?

(Suppose so. Just don't make a habit of it, or we'll revoke you poetic license.)


ODE TO DOCTOR GOODWORD

He's like a hurdy-gurdy's endless tune
Ground out with indefatigable zeal
He dasn't stop (he can't). He must go on
Like hamsters' acquiescence to a wheel

Suppose so. Just don't make a habit of it, or we'll revoke your poetic license.

Then I'd use a blank verse form to reapply.


ODE TO DOCTOR GOODWORD

He's like a hurdy-gurdy's endless tune
Ground out with indefatigable zeal
He dasn't stop (he can't). He must go on
Like hamsters' acquiescence to a wheel.
He shames those sciolists like you and me

ODE TO DOCTOR GOODWORD

He's like a hurdy-gurdy's endless tune
Ground out with indefatigable zeal
He dasn't stop (he can't). He must go on
Like hamsters' acquiescence to a wheel.

He shames those sciolists like you and me
With passels of new parlance from his lair

ODE TO DOCTOR GOODWORD

He's like a hurdy-gurdy's endless tune
Ground out with indefatigable zeal
He dasn't stop (he can't). He must go on
Like hamsters' acquiescence to a wheel.

He shames those sciolists like you and me
With passels of new parlance from his lair
He masters all the heterography

ODE TO DOCTOR GOODWORD

He's like a hurdy-gurdy's endless tune
Ground out with indefatigable zeal
He dasn't stop (he can't). He must go on
Like hamsters' acquiescence to a wheel.

He shames those sciolists like you and me
With passels of new parlance from his lair
He masters all the heterography
A leeway that allows both pair and pare

ODE TO DOCTOR GOODWORD

He's like a hurdy-gurdy's endless tune
Ground out with indefatigable zeal
He dasn't stop (he can't). He must go on
Like hamsters' acquiescence to a wheel.

He shames those sciolists like you and me
With passels of new parlance from his lair
He masters all the heterography
A leeway that allows both pair and pare

He notes the meaning, use and genesis

ODE TO DOCTOR GOODWORD

He's like a hurdy-gurdy's endless tune
Ground out with indefatigable zeal
He dasn't stop (he can't). He must go on
Like hamsters' acquiescence to a wheel.

He shames those sciolists like you and me
With passels of new parlance from his lair
He masters all the heterography
A leeway that allows both pair and pare

He notes the meaning, use and genesis
With labyrinthine clarity and style

ODE TO DOCTOR GOODWORD

He's like a hurdy-gurdy's endless tune
Ground out with indefatigable zeal
He dasn't stop (he can't). He must go on
Like hamsters' acquiescence to a wheel.

He shames those sciolists like you and me
With passels of new parlance from his lair
He masters all the heterography
A leeway that allows both pair and pare

He notes the meaning, use and genesis
With labyrinthine clarity and style
And limns the faint connections we might miss

ODE TO DOCTOR GOODWORD

He's like a hurdy-gurdy's endless tune
Ground out with indefatigable zeal
He dasn't stop (he can't). He must go on
Like hamsters' acquiescence to a wheel.

He shames those sciolists like you and me
With passels of new parlance from his lair
He masters all the heterography
A leeway that allows both pair and pare

He notes the meaning, use and genesis
With labyrinthine clarity and style
And limns the faint connections we might miss
As naught but foundlings in his cenacle

ODE TO DOCTOR GOODWORD

He's like a hurdy-gurdy's endless tune
Ground out with indefatigable zeal
He dasn't stop (he can't). He must go on
Like hamsters' acquiescence to a wheel.

He shames those sciolists like you and me
With passels of new parlance from his lair
He masters all the heterography
A leeway that allows both pair and pare

He notes the meaning, use and genesis
With labyrinthine clarity and style
And limns the faint connections we might miss
As naught but foundlings in his cenacle

The imprimatur of this lingual lord

ODE TO DOCTOR GOODWORD

He's like a hurdy-gurdy's endless tune
Ground out with indefatigable zeal
He dasn't stop (he can't). He must go on
Like hamsters' acquiescence to a wheel.

He shames those sciolists like you and me
With passels of new parlance from his lair
He masters all the heterography
A leeway that allows both pair and pare

He notes the meaning, use and genesis
With labyrinthine clarity and style
And limns the faint connections we might miss
As naught but foundlings in his cenacle

The imprimatur of this lingual lord
Is Lexiteria Corp. Toodle-oo, Goodword.

You guys are incredible. Not only does it reflect agile mental footwork (?) and not just congeries of words from contuberal panurgic labors, but I would say that it is the next best thing to poetry! I, too, felt the first one rather moreish but I didn't expect the flattery of this rhyming delectation.