English as She is Spoke
We've got a couple of new books, both of which Mark Twain would have loved.
Well, he DID love English as She is Spoke, an excellent example of what happens it you try to write a guide to learning a language if you don't actually know the language.
And the second book, a collection of some of the worst poetry ever written in English, contains -- of course -- some selections of the poetry of Julia Moore, the Sweet Singer of Michigan. Twain carried a volume of her poetry around with him, so that he could at any moment enjoy stanzas such as this, the beginning of "Sketch of Lord Byron's Life":
"Lord Byron" was an Englishman
A poet I believe,
His first works in old England
Was poorly received.
Perhaps it was "Lord Byron's" fault
And perhaps it was not.
His life was full of misfortunes,
Ah, strange was his lot.
"A poet I believe" is an especially good line. It suggests that the Sweet Singer isn't quite sure about whether or not Byron was a poet. I think she would have written "A poet I am told," except that she couldn't get it to rhyme.
Meredith, bless her lil' heart, suggests that we take some of her collection of things I said in the Medieval Drama class when I wasn't looking, and run them back and forth through the Google translating function. I tried it, Meredith, I really did, but since they were gibberish to begin with, they came out -- well, they don't work. Let's leave it there.
Except for this one, which is, I gather, my explanation of The Critical History of Medieval Drama:
Is this what us Medievalists. We take the baby and let us put it in the bathwater, and then we find another baby and put him inside, and then others, and others. And then we leave all the babies and go, don?t de?We soaps what occurred!? And then we take the babies later and let us give them in state.
We soaps, what occurred? English, as she is spoke.
Well, he DID love English as She is Spoke, an excellent example of what happens it you try to write a guide to learning a language if you don't actually know the language.
And the second book, a collection of some of the worst poetry ever written in English, contains -- of course -- some selections of the poetry of Julia Moore, the Sweet Singer of Michigan. Twain carried a volume of her poetry around with him, so that he could at any moment enjoy stanzas such as this, the beginning of "Sketch of Lord Byron's Life":
"Lord Byron" was an Englishman
A poet I believe,
His first works in old England
Was poorly received.
Perhaps it was "Lord Byron's" fault
And perhaps it was not.
His life was full of misfortunes,
Ah, strange was his lot.
"A poet I believe" is an especially good line. It suggests that the Sweet Singer isn't quite sure about whether or not Byron was a poet. I think she would have written "A poet I am told," except that she couldn't get it to rhyme.
Meredith, bless her lil' heart, suggests that we take some of her collection of things I said in the Medieval Drama class when I wasn't looking, and run them back and forth through the Google translating function. I tried it, Meredith, I really did, but since they were gibberish to begin with, they came out -- well, they don't work. Let's leave it there.
Except for this one, which is, I gather, my explanation of The Critical History of Medieval Drama:
Is this what us Medievalists. We take the baby and let us put it in the bathwater, and then we find another baby and put him inside, and then others, and others. And then we leave all the babies and go, don?t de?We soaps what occurred!? And then we take the babies later and let us give them in state.
We soaps, what occurred? English, as she is spoke.
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