Psycholophon -- Gelett Burgess

Since Thomas mentioned translated poetry...

(Poem #334) Psycholophon (Supposed to Be Translated from the Old Parsee) Twine then the rays Round her soft Theban tissues. All will be as She says, When the dead Past reissues. Matters not what nor where, Hark, to the moon's dim cluster! How was her heavy hair Lithe as a feather-duster! Matters not when nor whence; Flittertigibbet! Sound make the song, not sense, Thus I inhibit! -- Gelett Burgess

Notes:

Parsee: The language of Persia under the Sassanian kings

It was to Burgess's great annoyance that his 'Purple Cow' grew to eclipse
all his other work, and in a spirit of fairness I decided to run at least
one other poem of his. However, most of what I've read of his has been
rather weak children's poetry, nowhere near as good or as whimsical as the
purple cow pair.

Today's poem is not quite what I'd call whimsical either, but it's certainly
strange. The semimystical vagueness and the twisted grammar are of course a
parody on translated poetry, but not a particularly well-done one. And the
poem doesn't make enough sense to justify its failure as nonsense. On the
other hand, though, I couldn't really resist a poem that used the word
'flittertigibbet' [1]<g>.

[1] proper spelling 'flibbertigibbet', a flighty or frivolous woman

Links:

The Purple Cow, and a biography of Burgess, can be found at poem #120

m.

p.s. Does anyone know what the title refers to?

The Purple Cow -- Gelett Burgess

(Poem #120) The Purple Cow The Purple Cow's Projected Feast: Reflections on a Mythic Beast, Who's Quite Remarkable, at Least. I never saw a purple cow, I never hope to see one; But I can tell you, anyhow, I'd rather see than be one. -- Gelett Burgess

What the poem doesn't say the subtitle does - do I really need to comment
on it? Burgess, incidentally, grew increasingly annoyed by the fact that he
was known mainly for 'The Purple Cow', and eventually wrote the following
followup:

CONFESSION: and a Portrait, Too,
Upon a Background that I Rue!

  Ah, Yes! I Wrote the "Purple Cow" --
  I'm Sorry, now, I Wrote it!
  But I can Tell you Anyhow,
  I'll Kill you if you Quote it!

        -- Gelett Burgess

Biography:

Burgess, Gelett

 b. Jan. 30, 1866, Boston, Mass., U.S.
 d. Sept. 17, 1951, Carmel, Calif.

in full FRANK GELETT BURGESS, American humorist and illustrator, best known
for a single, early, whimsical quatrain: [The Purple Cow]

Burgess was educated as an engineer and worked briefly for a railroad in
that capacity. Between 1891 and 1894 he taught topographical drawing at the
University of California. In 1895 Burgess became the founding editor of
Lark, a humour magazine, and in 1897 he began to publish books of his
self-illustrated whimsical writings.

Burgess' humour was based upon the sudden break of ideas: a substitution of
the unexpected for the commonplace. Among his best-known works are Goops and
How to Be Them (1900) and subsequent books on Goops (bad-mannered children).
He is credited with adding several words to the English language, including
blurb. Among his many other works are Are You a Bromide? (1906), Why Men
Hate Women (1927), and Look Eleven Years Younger (1937).

        -- EB

blurb blArb. slang (orig. U.S.). [See note below.] A brief descriptive
paragraph or note of the contents or character of a book, printed as a
commendatory advertisement, on the jacket or wrapper of a newly published
book. Hence in extended use: a descriptive or commendatory paragraph. Also
Comb. Said to have been originated in 1907 by Gelett Burgess in a comic book
jacket embellished with a drawing of a pulchritudinous young lady whom he
facetiously dubbed Miss Blinda Blurb. (D.A.) See Mencken Amer. Lang. Suppl.
I. 329.

        -- OED

Parodies:

<[broken link] http://www.purplecow.com/weird/poetry/>

The Wordsworth one, at least, is worth a read.

m.