SPELL BOUND!
(This piece actually reflects sincere long-held beliefs.)
Don't get me started! I've a passion
For spelling in a simpler fashion!
Children are Spell Bound when in school!
Years of drill! It's all too cruel!
A child has a creative mind
Until it meets the ties that bind!
Forty sounds! That's all it takes!
Forty sounds for goodness sakes!
Teach them when the kids are small;
In no time they can learn them all!
Then they can write and feel so clever
Writing anything whatsoever!
I have proved it and I know!
Some are fast and some are slow,
But all can benefit from the ease
With which they write anything they please!
Don't get me started! I'll get vexed!
But it's coming. Look at
Text!
Mobile phones have led the way.
Simplified Spelling is here to stay!
*
(I will now rewrite the above in Simplified Spelling , my version.)
Dont get me started! Iv a pashn
For speling in a simpler fashn.
Childrn ar Spel Bownd wen in scool!
Yeas ov dril! Its orl too crooel!
A child haz a creativ mind
Until it mets the tis that bind.
Forte sownds! Thats orl it taks!
Forte sowndz for goodnes saks!
Tech them wen the cids ar smorl.
In no tim thay can lern them orl!
Then thay can rit and fel so cleva
Riting enething wotsoeva!
I hav proovd it and I no!
Sum ar farst and sum ar slow,
But orl can benifit from the ez
With wich thay rit enething thay plez.
Dont get me started! Il get vecst!
But its cuming! look at
TECST!
Mobil fons have led the way.
Simplifid Speling is heya too stay!
*
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A FINE FOLLY
We nestled among the trees
At the bottom of the hill.
The Folly rose above us.
It had started life seven centuries before.
But it had been added to,
Subtracted from,
And generally fiddled-with
Over and over again.
Now it was a conundrum,
Part religious monument,
Part nobleman's idle pleasure,
Part crumbling edifice.
'Yes! But what is it for?'
People would say,
Scratching their heads.
If they had asked me
I could have told them......
'It was built for the pleasure
Of an ordinary young girl.
She was
Bespectacled, plump and mousy.
It was perched above her
So that she could climb out of her bed
On winter nights,
Scratch the frost from her window-pane
And be transported.
It was created so that
A bubble moon could float past it
In a starry sky
And paint a glorious picture.
It was built so that
The girl could inhabit it
With royal personages,
Handsome knights
And a deliciously lovely princess.
This Princess
Bore a remarkable resemblance
To the girl,
Except that the Princess was slim, ravishing
And had good eyesight.
So don't ask me what it was for.
It was for me.
*
18 comments:
Yay! Bravo. Mind you, the simplified spelling was harder to read than the original for this old fogey!
That was a different dimension to the prompt...
An interesting poem, about which I could write reams. LOL. I taught my grandson to read / write before he went to kindergarten. I'd say 'simplified spelling' is good to a point...but then one needs to know.
I like your take on the prompt, though I expect a standardized system of spelling is not so much a way of keeping people bound, as a way of making it easier to read one another's writings...;) Having said that, the system we still use is certainly antiquated, and many have suggested ways to change it (a new standardization, you could say). I always liked GB Shaw's tongue-in-cheek spelling of 'fish' as 'ghoti', pronounced
gh as in cough
o as in women
ti as in nation
I think I am too old and have spent way too much time walking the fine line between what I hear and what I see. Language is a deep abiding love for me, and although I sense that it is inevitable, I dread the thought of it being 'corrupted' for ease sake. Part of its attraction, especially in the arena of poetry, is its wonderful ebb and flow across the page of paper. I read both versions and promptly started stumbling and mumbling as soon as I hit the texting. But then, I have to wonder if I'm just an ornery old coot who refuses to learn a new language, after taking years to feel at ease with the only one I have. None of that erases my delight at your response to the prompt. Thanks,
Elizabeth
Bravo well said. my son is severely dyslexic and would benefit from that as english is a very difficult language for them
It seems that in some languages such as Japanese there is hardly any dyslexia.
The short language on mobile phones is completely unreadable to me though
Wow, this is my first time seeing simplified spelling and it looks kind of fun :P Thank for sharing this:) And this poem is really great:P
Your poem made me smile, and some made perfect sense. But then again, I kept thinking what if everyone spelled the way it sounded to them!
i love this poem......well done
a musical composition :)
A Second-Hand Pipe Dream
Very clever! It's getting harder and harder to keep up!
Brilliant! Anyone who knows any adult who struggled in the fifties and sixties with a learning disability knows the value of your insight! I believe language has evolved as need be! Communication is so important, if you can get a point across quickly, power to you!! Well done...
my verification word was focke....lol I just had to laugh!
Interesting take on the prompt..Like your other readers I often text-speak more confusing than normal speak..must be an age thing..Jae :)
Spelling and pronunciation will change and newly created words will evolve and we must accept that fact. The problem is that the changes needs to be controlled in some way to keep the development rational.
This will not happen and English will bumble along illogically and may well take over and be the worlds language eventually.
I note that my verification word is "fooide" which is my contribution to the language meaning unnecessary additives to foodstuffs!
Great post as usual Brenda.
Haha, very clever! I had a teacher at school who used to write comments in that style if we had mad glaring spelling errors!
Very clever.
http://jessicasjapes.wordpress.com/2010/11/14/bright-idea-oh-yeah/
I thought I'd already visited here and left a comment - but I did have to click 3 times for it to accept! Anyway, I did enjoy this writing of yours! Thanks for visiting me.
Great poem. Language admittedly does have a certain amount of organic beauty that can be directly attributed to its troubled upbringing. Should we preserve that beauty at the price of forcing children to cope with its bizzare vestigal appendages?
Function or Beauty?
Good stuff. Enjoyed much. Will be back ...
Rhyme on ...
Post a Comment