Today's poem up for autopsy is from my child hood. It may be the first poem that I ever memorized and it certainly shows. Let's get right to it shall we?
Ooey Gooey was a wormAnd a mighty worm was heHe sat upon a railroad trackThe train he did not see,Ooey Gooey.
The rhyming meter of this poem is ABAC. A normal couplets, the most simple pattern form is ABAB.
A
Couplets is a Stanza of
only two lines which usually rhyme.
Shakespearean (also called Elizabethan and English) sonnets usually end in a couplet and
are a pair of lines that are
the same length and usually rhyme and form a
complete thought. William Shakespeare makes use of
couplets in more complex rhyme schemes.
Here are a couple of examples of couplets that the Poetry Coroner has certified alive and well.
-
- True wit is nature to advantage dress'd;
- What oft was thought, but ne'er so well express'd.
- — Alexander Pope
-
- Whether or not we find what we are seeking
- is idle, biologically speaking.
- — Edna St. Vincent Millay
It would appear that these poems have something to say, metered correctly and are in good health. Ooey Gooey is a novelty poem that attempts to be funny by causing the reader to anticipate the standard couplets form then changes at the last minute. This change is supposed to be a double entente making it a statement of the reality of worm guts on a rail road track rather than the actual rhyme. With out the life giving finish it would appear to be DOA.
Poetry Coroner's report on "Ooey Gooey"
Current condition: Deceased
Cause of Death: Lack of proper anticipated meter and rhyme
1 comment:
This was one of my favorites from childhood:
Hickory Dickory Dock,
Five mice ran up the clock.
The clock struck one
And the rest escaped with minor injuries.
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