Writing Websites or Limerick Poem Writing…Whatever
Molly was some time ago in London, not writing websites at the time, and was struck by the rightness of designating one spot for the use of anyone who wishes to speak his mind, whether or not they actually have one. At any rate, it came to pass that Hyde Park Speakers' Corner is model for this room at the pub, and Kathleen is delivering an impromptu exegesis of the limerick poem with examples, having been spurred by reading one of Edward's limericks:
Old Man of Aôsta
There was an Old Man of Aôsta,
Who possessed a large Cow, but he lost her;
But they said, "Don't you see,
she has rushed up a tree?
You invidious Old Man of Aôsta!"
*limerick by Edward Lear
Edward Lear is most certainly terse, but pithy? The repetition of the first and fifth line seems to her, well, redundant. At any rate, it is most certainly wasteful of the limited opportunity to deliver the story of the man from Aôsta. Surely there is something more exciting about the man than his cow? To Kathleen's mind, in five lines one should be able to define why Hemingway's style is so widely admired, explain what drives the content of writing websites, share one's own philosophy of good writing, or even define the work of Hieronymus Bosch Shall we sidle closer and listen? Someone, kindly fetch her the soapbox?
Five Lines
Your verbiage is nicely proceeding
As a writer, you're happy in breeding
Pages of verbiage.
Excessive wordage?
What's not said in five lines's not worth reading.
Hemingway
Fine authors are often succinct
Hemingway, terse, often shrinked
A full page or two
Into only a few
Dense-writ lines that were sparing of ink.
Howsomever, Edward's most charming poem, and one which is not a limerick, The Owl and the Pussycat, is a staple in nurseries everywhere, and shall remain so. Like Dr. Seuss, the rhythm of it sinks into the bones, which reminds us of Writing Down the Bones, but that is an entirely different matter and we digress.
The reader, and at first it is usually one's mither, cannot help but fall into a sing-song delivery of it, which is the proper thing to do, for it is delightful to children of all ages to count to the beat of the rhythm (just ask Martha). Oh my, speaking of terse and pithy, here come two more limerick poems.
Terse and Pithy
Wordiness just undermines
The public's enjoyment of lines
They should be terse and pithy
She's not worth much if she
Can't say what she means in five lines.
Two -Wheeler
With the training wheels off, my two-wheeler
Is my website, where I am dealer
In limerick poem
Where's my shrink! My syndrome
Leaves me feeling like Garrison Keillor
Kathleen secretly reads Shel Silverstein, with nary a small fry about, for her own enjoyment. She aspires to produce such children's poetry herself, and squirrels these poems, most definitely not limericks, away in a locked diary.
Molly, these days, writing websites, admires the anecdotal vignettes of Garrison Keillor presented on The Prairie Home Companion. As in Lake Woebegone, Cincinnati likewise provides fodder for many an amusing story, and should you doubt it, kindly note the flying pigs and the chicken dance. But we digress.
Writing Websites Made Easy
Writing website's a different gameDeadlines
Daily traffic reports provide aim
For the topics folks need
And you'd best pay it heed
If you don't want a website that's lame.
Writing's a wonderful craft
Yet it's hard getting past that first draft
For that deadline, you see,
It snuck up on me
And the pressure is making me daft.
Writing websites is a horse of a different kettle than writing the limerick poem, to mix metaphors with impunity, which is our wont. The challenge is to weave "keywords" into the text for the "spider bots" in such a manner that the content still flows naturally. For example, "limerick poem" is such a key phrase, and one may note that it is scattered thither and yon throughout the text. Additionally, "writing websites," "Hemingway," and "Garrison Keillor" serve as auxiliary keywords, and note that they have likewise been reinforced throughout the text, gracefully, one hopes. Bear with us; we are in the trough of a learning curve which arcs high above us.
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