Poetry in motion

Today’s dose of humour was supplied by members of the great British public who slated Jeremy Corbyn for writing terrible poetry, only for it to be pointed out that he was in fact quoting Percy Bysh Shelley. To be fair when it was announced recently that he and Len McClusky were collaborating on an anthology of left leaning verse I did cringe. 

The weather was grey and sweaty for the most part but I did manage to get out for not just one but two walks. In between times I had a really busy day at work as we have people off and deadlines looming. There was nothing poetic about it, although I could come up with a limerick if pushed. In fact I think I will.

There once was a corporate man
Whose governance fell off a van
His colleagues were tardy
So he became mardy
And the outcome was a big also-ran.

I was let down by Amazon today with the following message relating to two items in the same delivery.

Unfortunately, a problem occurred during shipping and we had to cancel your delivery. The package is being returned, and we will issue a refund within 5 - 7 business days after the return is processed. We’re very sorry for the inconvenience.

Which is all very mysterious. Perhaps the Amazon van was intercepted by modern day highwaymen. It’s the phrase “we had to cancel  your delivery” that I find interesting. I ordered a cheap military style watch and a hundred metres of steel cable. Maybe they thought I was a terrorist, but in fact I just wanted the cable for various garden projects. As for the watch it was cheap and was one of the few with a vegan strap that wasn’t chunky metal. I’ve decided to give up on Smart Watches. They are such a rip off. If I want to know if I’m doing enough steps I just have to measure my waist size.

Talking of vegan apparel - 

I have a wedding next week and can’t find my suit. How can you lose a suit? I might get a new one at the weekend. I fancy a sixties retro look but it's a bit too warm for even a thin turtleneck sweater. Being vegan is quite challenging on the suit front as so many of them have wool in the mix but there are some stylish linen ones out there and a new plant based fabric developed by Dupont. Presumably you can have any colour you like as long as it’s  green, it being plant based. Or maybe shiny aubergine.

Poor Dylan had a bad day. Got frightened by noisy street urchins and then chased by a dog.

Going back to the theme of poetry I wondered on rereading this where the phrase “poetic justice” came from. I found this with a bit of Googling: 

The English literary critic and historian Thomas Rymer coined the phrase poetic justice in his essay The Tragedies of the Last Age Considere'd, 1678. Rymer had strong views on how tragedy should be written and performed and wrote extensively on the subject. Poetic justice or, as Rymer expressed it, poetical justice, demanded that those of good character were rewarded and that the evil were punished. He was also of the view that plots should not be implausible and that dramatic works should have a moral. Rymer wasn't disconcerted by reputation and directed his criticism at no less than William Shakespeare, making some suggestions as to how the Bard could have improved Othello. Whilst being somewhat out of favour in some circles for his hardline stance, he did have many supporters. Notably amongst those was the celebrated poet and playwright John Dryden. In a letter to the earl of Dorset, Dryden described Rymer's Tragedies as 'the best piece of Criticism in the English tongue ... and think my selfe happy he has not fallen upon me, as severely and as wittily as he has upon Shakespeare and Fletcher'.

Thus endeth the Wednesday lesson.