In Praise of Lord Alfred Douglas
Lord Alfred Douglas's nonsense rhymes
are actually quite neat at times,
with his kamp panthers, sharks and bears
and some odd thing with Belgian hares.
But what I like a great deal better
is the typical Alfred Douglas letter:
some masterpiece of vicious spite
- he had both bark and rabid bite -
corrosive, hate-filled, from the heart,
that raised crude venom to high art.
He knew the subtle, knew the gross
(Aunt Patrick White did not come close).
He broke his poisons on each head.
When you'd been Douglased, it was said
you knew the fact. His acid rage
quite sizzles on the printed page.
Not just when Wilde got him in strife:
he kept it up throughout his life.
He must have laid down that abuse,
most lovingly, for future use
and cellared up that spleen and gall
to vomit over one and all -
whoever gave the least offence,
and whether or not the feud made sense.
But something else is very clear:
if filled with hate, he had no fear,
and if his mind seemed red and black
he stabbed in front, not in the back.
I much prefer Lord Alfred's way
to the unctuous liars I read today.
________________
Author notes
Written June 15th, 2005
A contest entry
- To find ugly meanings in beautiful things is to be corrupt without being charming -Oscar Wilde by Aesthete.
700 points, ended June 18, 2007, 14 entries
Honorable mention
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
What did you think
Comments
1 - 6 of 6
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Oh my, a rhyming poem with meter. Eight syllables to a line, how nice. Really this is most refreshing, stylistically and in content. I love everything in this poem and I think you did a fantastic job. Thank you so much for entering.
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Well Done
Bosie, he had the tongue of a wasp when crossed, some of his work was very heavy, but you are right his fun verses are great.
And I whole heartedly agree with you about some of the politically correct rubbish written today.. my theory if you have something to say say it,as long as it's not a personal attack I don't give two hoots if the reader takes offence.
Barb -
something quite different i think too. but very good, flows quite well, and you know i love ryhme served up any way you choose to serve it!
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I think the best things he wrote were some light nonsense-verses and here I have tried to copy their style, though not their subject-matter!
Noyt quite typical of my own style, of course. -
You made me go googling for Lord Alfred. Something how when we stumble on these poets the impressions they have on us. This is a very well written piece on a intriging man. I'll be reading more of his stuff.
Thank you. -
Great rhyme. Sometimes honesty is the best policy
Keep writing, this was a great tribute which I liked a lot
All the best,
Pozo
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