Aesop Channel'd 'n' Chopp'd: Array Five

Commentary

This F fable's Perry Index number is
#351.

The G fable's Perry Index number is #137.

Thirteen and Six BotchuLits (aka Reopening Gambits)

The world is so full of a number of things.

But lufteleformofishornoshwaldings...?
A slap-happy thought from RLS.                                                         -- GFH

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure dome decree 
But, alas, opiate receded, kinky sex mandala hauled under.
(Person from Porlock punctures pipe-dream pagodas.)                         -- GFH

Now is the winter of our discontent

with two countertenors done -- finis!

("The Falsettos in the Tower" or "Gloucester Doesn't Go for Baroque.")  -- GFH

              

When in April the sweet showers fall, 

herself wilts; whiner aslop; a wet hen.

(The Wife takes a Bath)                                                                     -- GFH 

'Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house,
when Father's big car met its host, he won the URL "Hugo's Health."
(This year, St. Nick's gifting every Mother's child with the web address it's always wanted.) 

"They had a house of crystal pillars on the planet Mars:

has street appeal; healthy, dry canal; thin, foul rooms."

(Weird real estate listing from Ray Bradbury)                                        -- GFH

In the beginning God created
bengo diced thin 'n' ginger tea.
(Ginger and bengo being plants which thrive in gardens east of Eden.)

Once upon a time
out pie men a con
did play on a trio of bears (some stories substitute pigs for bears) the pie men had met while attending a gay pride fair.

Somewhere in La Mancha,
a hale Chinese worm-man...
...is heard singing, "To dleem the impossibrer dleem…"

You don't know me without you have read a book
about Woody the Wooky, Han, Outed Auk Ivor...'n' me.
(Not to mention Lord Vader, Miss Watson's Jim and that Sawyer boy.)

"Take my camel, dear," said my Aunt Dot.
"Eat a dread Mummy Lite Snack daily."
(Offbeat amenities in The Towers of Trebizond.)                                    -- GFH

Alice was beginning to get very tired
being given tainted grey-water coils.
("Girls just want to have fun," Miss Liddell clarified.)

On Monday, when the sun is hot...
Oh, no! One's death must whinny?
(Lines Written by a Bear of Very Equine Brain
or, Pooh plus Pooh equals Eeyore.)                                                       -- GFH 

Oh, East is East, and West is West...

Ah, India’s stews taste so sweet!
(Kipling just loved his curry.)                                                               -- GFH 

It was the best of times:

I hit me two tsetses. Fab!
(I'd just legally purchased my AK-47 swatter.)

Arma virumque cano.
Or, "Quem carmina, Vau?"
(We asked a Portuguese city glee club what they'd chosen to sing.)

Stately, plump Buck Mulligan:
pick up muy-tall nutmeg balls!
(Stephen Dedalus's bodega shopping list.)

For a long time I went to bed early.
Forgotten? My ball...tee...wine...radio...
(Young Marcel possessed more than a few bad habits.) 

We the people...in order:
Theo, Pepe, Lew, Dr. Roe 'n' I.
(Followed, several steps behind, of course, by Indira, Miyoshi, Peaches, the current Mrs. Roe and my own ex-.)


Source materials: 

"Happy Thought" from A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson 
"Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge 
Richard III by William Shakespeare 
"The Wife of Bath's Tale" from The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer 
A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Moore
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
The Old Testament by various Hebrews 
Nearly every fairy tale ever told, many related by Anon
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes 
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain 
The Towers of Trebizond by Rose Macaulay 
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll 
"Lines Written by a Bear of Very Little Brain" by A. A. Milne 
"The Ballad of East and West" by Rudyard Kipling
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
The Aeneid by Vergil
Ulysses by James Joyce
In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States

Aesop Channel'd 'n' Chopp'd: Array Four

Commentary to come; a work in progress

Aesop Channel'd 'n' Chopp'd: Array Three

Commentary 

Also called "The Cock and the Pearl," this fable's "frills" are the gleanings of the field, seen by the cock as of value to him. The fool is, of course, the cock himself -- in not recognizing the greater value of his chance discovery.

Its Perry Index number is #503 

Like "Belling the Cat," "The Dog in the Manger" is well known, whether as fable, metaphor or meme.  

Its Perry Index number is #703.

Aesop Channel'd 'n' Chopp'd: Array Two

Commentary

Attributed to Aesop but probably best classified outside
the Aesopic canon, this fable, also called "The Mice in Council" is widely known.

Its number in the Perry Index is #613.

The referent for the 'you' whom the fabulist admonishes remains vague.

Aesop Channel'd 'n' Chopp'd: a Constrained Illustrated ABC in Meter and Rhyme Recording an Imagined Conversation Between Aesop the Fabulist and Homer the Bard as Displayed in 17 Four-panel Arrays, Including Commentaries: Array One -- Plus a Cross Reference of the Perry Index Numbers to the Lopp'd Verses

Commentary

If a word or phrase, including the title of a particular fable, is unfamiliar and the commentary adjacent to each array provides no explication, try
Googling the word or phrase. 

'Multinash' is a newly coined abbreviation of the author's own creation meaning  'multinational.' Such an individual (a multinash, not the author, of course) might well elect to spell 'Aesop' using an Old English ash and a Hebrew shin as his arch accompaniment to a Greek omicron and pi. 

The Attic Greek "Andra moi ennepe Mu-" are the opening seven syllables of Homer's epic The Odyssey, an anticipatory plagiarism of the  Latin "Arma virumque cano" septet of Vergil's The Aeneid. Both are no-nonsense works of verbal art in contradistinction to the silliness reproduced here. 

The German 'mit' and the English abbreviation 'litt' add to the multinational character of this opening array, as the French 'fou' does as well, while standing for 'fun.'

The physiognomy of Aesop's bust is based on a reading the The Aesop Romance, a compilation of several old vitae, which reveals the fabulist to have been one singularly unattractive storyteller. The bust of Homer appears to  feature several facial characteristics of a certain animated cartoon personality.

The meter in this and throughout the other arrays is in dactyls, with lots of end- and internal rhymes.

(Appearing below are the Perry Index numbers corresponding to the fables of which the alphabet’s lopp’d verses, also appearing below, are the constrained treatments.)   

Array One: A: Aesop the Fabulist, from The Aesop Romance.

     A is for Aesop…’tis I! 
“Multinash”? Spell it ‘ash, shin’…plus ‘omicron, pi’!
Hear we “Andra moi ennepe Mu-…”?
Not one whit! Here sits lit writ wit’ wit…mit litt’ bits fit for fou.

Array Two: B: Belling the Cat aka The Mice in Council, from Perry #613.

     B’s for my “Belling the Cat.”

Point…?

To say’s not to do! (Dudes like

you must know that.)

Array Three: C: The Cock and the Jewel aka The Cock and the Pearl, from Perry #503,

and D: The Dog in the Manger, from Perry #703.

     C…? My “The Cock and the Jew’l.”

What’s its gist…? Who’d persist fetchin’ frills finds…a fool.

D’s my “The Dog in the Manger.”

Who’d accrue without usin’…? “Gr-r-r-r-!”s any cur stranger…?

Array Four: E: Ennus, adopted son of Aesop, from The Aesop Romance.

     E is for Ennus, my “scion.”

Me Enn jailed.

Oui! Enn failed.

Enn’s no gens I’d rely on.

Array Five: F: The Fawn and his Mother, from Perry #351,

and G: The Gnat and the Bull, from Perry #137.

     F’s my “The Faun and his Mother.”

No raison favors fight – not when flight be one’s druther.

G’s my “The Gnat and the Bull.

‘Tis too true: you’re just you. Let not pride pull the wool.

Array Six: H: The Hare and the Tortoise, from Perry #226.

     H…? My “The Hare and the Tortoise.”

Read ‘n’ weep:

Never sleep!

Are we thinkin’ Abe Fortas…?

Array Seven: I: The Idol of Clay, from Perry #285.

     I’s my “The Idol of Clay.”

Shan’t be troll’d, t pot [rau tjpigj upi ,ay.

Pours out gold when you break it one day.

(It appears the god hears – in his roundabout way.)

Array Eight: J: Jove and the Monkey, from Perry #364,

and K: The King of the Frogs, from a later version of Perry #44.

     J’s for my “Jove and the Monkey.”

Please to note: one’s son’s haut, be he fair-form’d or funky.

K’s for “The King of the Frogs.”

Lesson…? Don’t for storks sue. Do make do with god’s logs.

Array Nine: L: The Lion in Love, from Perry #140.

     L’s my “The Lion in Love.”

Be that passion’s

irrational

cognizant of!

Array Ten: M: The Miser’s Lost Gold, from Perry #225 (?).

     M’s my “The Miser’s Lost gold.”

Nick’d: the lot! Nor would Cott* be cajol’d.

“Still…” folks thought, “naught got bought, naught got sold…

What’s amiss…?” Merely this: not one dinar’d he doled!  

     * Cotta’s the archetypal miser in A. Pope’s satirical epistle.

Array Eleven: N: The Neat’s Tongues Adventure, from The Aesop Romance,

and O: The Old Man and Death, from Perry #60.

     N…? My “The Neats’s Tongues Adventure,”

when our gallant’s droll talents proved awkward to censure.

O’s my “The Old Man and Death.”

Don’t invite cure by Death. Death’s for shite. Save your breath.

Array Twelve: P: The Peacock and Juno, from Perry #509,

and Q: The Quack Frog: a Fable, from Perry #289.

     P…? My “The Peacock and Juno.”

On can’t have it all. Folks will call one…well…you know.

Q’s my “The Quack Frog: a Fable.”

First, docteur: thyself cure – or deserve that ‘quack’ label.

Array Thirteen: R: The Raven a Swan – from Perry #398,

and S: The Stag at the Pool – from Perry #73.

     R’s my “The Swan and the Raven.”

Change of scene doesn’t mean that one gets all one’s cravin.’

S…? My “The Stage at the Pool.”

Don’t write off that which oft proves a life-savin’ tool.

Array Fourteen: T: The Thieves and a Cock, from Perry #122,

and U: The United Four Oxen, from Perry #372.

     T’s my “The Thieves ‘n’ a Cock.”

Your belief that a thief won’t undo you…? A crock!

U…? “The Four Oxen, United.”

Graze alone, on your own…? Quick demise you’re invitin.'

Array Fifteen: V: The Vine and the Goat, from Perry #374,

and W: Wolf and the Kid, from Perry #159 (?)

     V is “The Vine ‘n’ the Goat.”

Break your fast: who’ll laugh last when’s laid open your throat…?

W’s “Wolf ‘n’ the Kid”:

Actin’ smart ain’t no art when one’s cautiously hid.

Array Sixteen: X: Xanthus, Aesop’s master, from The Aesop Romance,

and Y: A Youth and his Mother, from Perry #364.

     X is for Xanthus, my Master.

Had slave not been my lotm would’ve my pastures proved vaster?

Y’s my “A Youth ‘n’ His Mother.”

Raise your child to run wild…? He’ll grow up as no other.

Array Seventeen: Z: The Zephyr/Sol War, from The North Wind and the Sun, Perry #46.

     Z…? My “The Zephyr/Sol War.”

What beats force…?

Well, of course, exhortation will…

…or…

     

Bananagraffe on W O R D S

Meet Ms. Diana Dors!
She lives down Rotten Row
and best be censur'd -- or
licentious oats she'll sow.

As flights of ducks (a sord)
ascend as does the Dow,
her passions also do,
as do her hackles. Ow!

Meet Dangerfield -- young Rod --
but credit not his word:
"I'm unlike other Rods."
He'll perish by the sword.

Then, planted in the sod
among long bone-yard rows,
that silly so-'n'-so
shall burst forth. Mark my words!

A...B...C...D...-ump: Monorhymes & Monomaniacs: a Nonsense Alphabet

"'Til Terminated,
T's Thoughts Turn, 
Time and Time
 Again, to Trump" 
#2 pencil on
photocopy paper,
cropped and 
digitally modified
4" x 4"

     A 'toon be Mrs. Andy Gump.
Poor broad's puss? Paw'd by randy Trump.
     Behold Beyoncé's baby bump!
Who owns that ova? Maybe Trump?
     Can clods compact to form a clump?
They can! They forge abnorma' Trump.
     Deck MAGA hats the city dump?
Hell! Hoard$ got hawk'd. Don't pity Trump! 
     El Presidente's effing plump.
A fool's vain errand: reffing Trump.
     Fine frauen? Trump's wed three (no frump).
All speak no...hear no...see no Trump!
    "Good golly, Papa's such a grump."
(Young Barron thinks not much o' Trump.)
     Hides bigly hair a midget's hump?
Who pillages the fridge? It's Trump!      
   Ivanka's Da's scores? In a slump.
Says she, "You still my winna,' Trump."
   Jared Kushner's cryin,' "Jump!"
At Mueller? Nope! At Lyin' Trump.
     Kill the ref! Then kill the ump!
(Then kill, as well, that filthy Trump.)
   Lymphoma! Look: a tiny lump.
What's next? Cue weepy, whiney Trump!
   Melange o' cysts -- cysts on his rump.
Who owns those mumps? Dishonest Trump.
  N 
  O 
  P 
  Q 
  R 
  S 
  T
  U
  V 
  W 
  X 
  Y
  Z

Sestinable, or, How, On First Looking Into Bishop's Quinti-Sensual "Sestina," I Composed My Own Queer De-Sensical Sestina: a Tutouliporial of Sorts

Here are combinations of the letters O P S T. The six forming words, used as end words in the sestina, are in underlined italics.

S P O T    P O T S    O T P S    T S O P     S P T O    P O S T    O T S P    T S O P
S O P T    P T O S    O S T P    T P O S     S O T P    P T S O    O S P T    T P S O
S T O P    P S O T    O P T S    T O S P     S T P O    P S T O    O P S T    T O P S

Typically, sestina end words aren't anagrams of each other. That this sestina's are is but one characteristic distinguishing it from less rigorous examples of the form.

Here each of the six end words is assigned a numeral: 'opts' > 1  'post' > 2   'stop' > 3   'tops' > 4   'pots' > 5   'spot' > 6

Here are the sequences in which the words will be permuted through the lines of the six stanzas.

1  2  3  4  5  6 first stanza    6  1  5  2  4  3 second stanza    3  6  4  1  2  5 third stanza
5  3  2  6  1  4 fourth stanza    4  5  1  3  6  2 fifth stanza    2  4  6  5  3  1 sixth stanza

Here are the six stanzas, plus the three lines of the envoi. Note that all lines are in alexandrines and that the whole, with the inclusion of the envoi, forms an acrostic. Note as well that the envoi employs all six end words both at ends of lines and internally halfway through each line.

So: Phoppe, who'd cop to "Best Sestin'er Ever," opts
to score 'n' share three pair o' anagrams on 'post.'
What's more, he'd bare such fare -- nor there'd he stop,
but, totting, syst'matize (verse-wise, sum guys be tops)
this list, then scribbl'it down. (Clowns flush theirs down pals' pots,
so hectorors their feckless anagrams won't spot.) 

Exhibits Phoppe his heartware. Where? You'll know the spot:
Ru'de l'Oulipo, where each sestina author opts
to rake in (po'try's play'd like poker) all the pots.
He'd do it, too, were he to, on some off site, post
these "piroulipolettes" (his verse? Like spinning tops)
to collocate, curl, gyrate, twirl -- nor ne'er to stop. 

Touts query Phoppe, when on his blog they chance to stop,
while fancy'ng not to put the poe' boy on the spot,
yet blown away how homeboy players' licks he tops
(though not, when each round's won, to lick his chops he opts):
"How so: your pluprose shows up in The Denver Post,
whose pages peddle pablum'd prose -- plus pans 'n' pots?"

To parry pryers' pot shots -- mots Phoppe knows as 'pots' --
he'll let roam po'ms where're, Lord knows, nor never stop
composing -- not (riposte) composting -- 'em, then post-
ing 'em on Fou.com (for Nonsense, 'tis THE spot.
I'm wont to note: Der Phoppster, on occasion, opts
to smoke each po'm -- each toke (no joke) in lieu of Tops.)

Inhaling verse? Which Joes won't curse -- gross'd, toes to tops.
This even when Verlaine (the fave of whose? Pol Pot's)
goes up in smoke. Yup, jokester Phoppe, a loner, opts
to torch the French Romantics, though the cops cry, "Stop!"
Phoppe's lot -- Jane, Puff, Dick, Mother, Baby Sally, Spot --
rue scorching art. (Elsewise, though? Dumber than a post.)

Now omega looms; green rooms grown dim. The noon post
lies, unread, in stacks unshreded. Table tops
o'erflow with letters dead. Each missive bears this spot:
tre nightshades noir, ones never made by flame-scorch'd pots.
And although Phoppe, who, sensing denoument, shouts, "Stop,"
he chooses to continue -- like he always opts.

At close o' show, who'd spot a poetaster opts
to sift hot sand for potsherds Classic (pre- or post-),
and classify Phoppe "TOPS" -- and cherish Phoppe full stop. 
                                                

Hommage á Gorey

Here' it is: the director's cut of Hommage á Gorey. (An earlier version, posted last May, 
has mysteriously discombobulated. Oh, these tiresome comput-a-machines!) To those 
who viewed it the first time around we say, "It's back, baby, and better than ever." 
To those who've never viewed it we say, "Avanti, Monte!" To both mobs we say, 
"Leave a comment or a question at jhiggins27@verizon.net -- and be quick about it...
please."

Potential Profiles in Textiles

TV Bad Dude Mr. Tea 
Former First Son-in-law Jared Cushioner 

Theatrical Polymath Noel Cowhide 
Singer Johnny Cashmere 
Playwright George Bernard Shawl 

Actor Cloth Rains
Actress Canvas Bergen 
Minimalist Composer Philip Glassine 

Dr. Martin Loofah King, Jr. 
Actor Benedict Cumberbund
Astronomer Neil deGrasse Ties

Actor Denzel Washantung 
President BarRag Obama
Greek Philosopher Socksrates