I recall first reading JABBERWOCKY and feeling the thrill of release from the literal, into the realm of mimsy...been mimsical ever since! PS: does Zsa Zsa Gabor count as three names?
Ray, my dad, would often read The Children’s Hour by Henry Wadswoth Longfellow (three names…) to me at bedtime. That poem was the genesis for “My List of Peeves” in my commonplace. Thanks to Henry, the first entry on that now long list is: Poems with forced rhymes.
The second and fourth lines of The Children’s Hour stanzas pair beautifully:
Feet / Sweet
Stair / Hair
Eyes / Surprise
Hall / Wall
Chair / Everywhere
Entwine / Rhine
Wall / All
Depart / Heart
Day / Away
All well and good. But, close to 70 years ago and to this day I have been peeved by the first stanza:
Between the dark and the daylight,
When the night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the day’s occupations,
That is known as the Children’s Hour.
I used to be a regular churchgoer (not gower) and on Sundays the hymn We Plough The Fields, and Scatter by Matthias Claudius was a staple of the annual church rotation. The hymn contained three stanzas and one refrain with the following rhymes.
Land / Hand
Grain / Rain
Above / Love (Refrain)
Far / Star
Fed / Bread
Above / Love (Refrain)
Good / Food
Imparts / Hearts
Above / Love (Refrain)
In an otherwise respectable hymn, we get ambushed by Good / Food. I can’t imagine a time in the evolution of the English language when those two words ever rhymed. Seriously, Matthias? Sheesh.
Item 4 sends me rocketing back to Huntsville, Ala., where my wife’s first cousin’s daughter got married last weekend (my first cousin-in law once removed, if I’m solid on my degrees of consanguinity). Our first trip there - at least according to my embarrassingly spotty memory - I was struck by the dominance of the town’s culture, and even its ethos, by the memory of notorious ex-Nazi and rocket scientist Wernher Von Braun. (Our server at brunch the morning after was completing a degree in physics and planning a career in astrophysics, largely inspired by her teenage summers at Huntsville’s Space Camp.)
Not to meander, but I’m guessing you would exempt tripartite names from your list if formed by “Vons” or “bens” (David ben Naftali) or “des” (Alexis de Tocqueville) and the like. What about former The Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel? Legendary rockstar David St. Hubbins? Alright, that last one is fictional, but the point is valid.
I suspect your instinct is to say “Those are foreign names; they don’t count.” Actually, I know you wouldn’t say that, but some might. But let’s face it, we all brought foreign names to these shores (even “Trump/Drumpf”), with the possible exceptions of Sacajawea, Tecumseh, Squanto, among many others.
David, Thank you for your thoughtful feedback, as always. You intuition is correct -- von's, ben's, and de's are not eligible. That said, I must admit that the overall eligibility requirements are rather murky and could use an analytical mind like yours to sort through and issue a set for formal guidelines..
the original expression was “chomp,” but “champ” has overtaken “chomp” down the stretch and is widely accepted in modern usage. NPR, citing the late language expert William Safire, agrees that “champ” is outdated.
In show biz, some tripleheaders came about because of union rules that require performers to alter their names to differentiate themselves from earlier union members named, say, Neil Harris or Mary Moore.
I recall first reading JABBERWOCKY and feeling the thrill of release from the literal, into the realm of mimsy...been mimsical ever since! PS: does Zsa Zsa Gabor count as three names?
I think not, as Zsa Zsa must be her complete first name, don't you think?
lol sure, just a thought from my meandering brain...
Ray, my dad, would often read The Children’s Hour by Henry Wadswoth Longfellow (three names…) to me at bedtime. That poem was the genesis for “My List of Peeves” in my commonplace. Thanks to Henry, the first entry on that now long list is: Poems with forced rhymes.
The second and fourth lines of The Children’s Hour stanzas pair beautifully:
Feet / Sweet
Stair / Hair
Eyes / Surprise
Hall / Wall
Chair / Everywhere
Entwine / Rhine
Wall / All
Depart / Heart
Day / Away
All well and good. But, close to 70 years ago and to this day I have been peeved by the first stanza:
Between the dark and the daylight,
When the night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the day’s occupations,
That is known as the Children’s Hour.
I used to be a regular churchgoer (not gower) and on Sundays the hymn We Plough The Fields, and Scatter by Matthias Claudius was a staple of the annual church rotation. The hymn contained three stanzas and one refrain with the following rhymes.
Land / Hand
Grain / Rain
Above / Love (Refrain)
Far / Star
Fed / Bread
Above / Love (Refrain)
Good / Food
Imparts / Hearts
Above / Love (Refrain)
In an otherwise respectable hymn, we get ambushed by Good / Food. I can’t imagine a time in the evolution of the English language when those two words ever rhymed. Seriously, Matthias? Sheesh.
Item 4 sends me rocketing back to Huntsville, Ala., where my wife’s first cousin’s daughter got married last weekend (my first cousin-in law once removed, if I’m solid on my degrees of consanguinity). Our first trip there - at least according to my embarrassingly spotty memory - I was struck by the dominance of the town’s culture, and even its ethos, by the memory of notorious ex-Nazi and rocket scientist Wernher Von Braun. (Our server at brunch the morning after was completing a degree in physics and planning a career in astrophysics, largely inspired by her teenage summers at Huntsville’s Space Camp.)
Not to meander, but I’m guessing you would exempt tripartite names from your list if formed by “Vons” or “bens” (David ben Naftali) or “des” (Alexis de Tocqueville) and the like. What about former The Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel? Legendary rockstar David St. Hubbins? Alright, that last one is fictional, but the point is valid.
I suspect your instinct is to say “Those are foreign names; they don’t count.” Actually, I know you wouldn’t say that, but some might. But let’s face it, we all brought foreign names to these shores (even “Trump/Drumpf”), with the possible exceptions of Sacajawea, Tecumseh, Squanto, among many others.
Forgive the length; in a hurry.
David, Thank you for your thoughtful feedback, as always. You intuition is correct -- von's, ben's, and de's are not eligible. That said, I must admit that the overall eligibility requirements are rather murky and could use an analytical mind like yours to sort through and issue a set for formal guidelines..
I do think that there is opportunity to continue reducing word count … 10m in one sitting??? Challenge.
What do you think of this line:
“To be alone is to be nobody and everybody at once”
James McNeill Whistler
Justin Townes Earle
a young woman who wore “a Dr. Zhivago fur hat.” By then, I was completely lost
Scott you were not alone.
Huh?
the original expression was “chomp,” but “champ” has overtaken “chomp” down the stretch and is widely accepted in modern usage. NPR, citing the late language expert William Safire, agrees that “champ” is outdated.
Oops. Good catch. I’ll make a correction. Thanks for the close read.
To my World Weary and Affectionate Meanderer,
I offer a few more 3 name people for your list: (didn’t check your list. Might be duplicates)
John Wilkes Booth
Kareem Abdul Jabaar
Corken Head Jones
Karl Anthony Towns
Gypsy Rose Lee
Glad post was shorter, even if it takes u more time.
In show biz, some tripleheaders came about because of union rules that require performers to alter their names to differentiate themselves from earlier union members named, say, Neil Harris or Mary Moore.
"I believe the world is beautiful
and that poetry, like bread, is for everyone."
Roque Dalton
https://poets.org/poem/you-1
In fairness, the hat tip regarding the 80-year-old dash should have gone to Coach Tedder, not me
Also, any discussion of poetry has to start with Philip Larkin’s “This Be the Verse” and it’s most famous line
Its”
I don’t know why auto-correct insists on changing “its” to “it’s”
I should also note that the ChatGPT description is superb