WEBVTT

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This is a poem in an
eccentric form which I've

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used several times, a pantoum.

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It's in four line stanzas.

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And in the second stanza
the second and fourth lines

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of the first stanza become
the first and third line

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of the second stanza.

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That perfectly clear?

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[LAUGHTER]

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And so on until
the end of the poem

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when you use the first and
third lines of the first stanza

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that you never used before.

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So each line is repeated
twice eventually.

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And that's-- you get twice
as much poem for your effort.

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[LAUGHTER]

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This one is in four sections.

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It's called "Hotel Lautréamont,"
named after the 19th century

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proto surrealist French writer
who uses a nickname or the pen

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name Lautréamont, wrote the
rather ghoulish epic the Song

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of Maldoror, which I recommend
to you if you haven't read it.

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It's been translated
several times in English.

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"Hotel Lautréamont."

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"One.

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Research has shown that ballads
were produced by all of society

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working as a team.

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They didn't just happen.

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There was no guesswork.

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The people then knew what
they wanted and how to get it.

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We see the results
and works as diverse

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as Windsor Forest and
The Wife of Usher's Well.

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Working as a team, they
didn't just happen.

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There was no guesswork.

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The horns of elfland swing
past and in a few seconds

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we see the results in works
as diverse as Windsor Forest

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and The Wife of Usher's Well.

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Or on a more modern note in the
finale of the Sibelius violin

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concerto.

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The horns of elfland swing
past and in a few seconds

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the world as we know it sinks
into dementia proving narrative

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essay or in the finale of the
Sibelius's violin concerto.

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Not to worry, many hands
are making work light again.

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The world as we know
it sinks into dementia

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proving narrative passe.

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In any case, the ruling
was long overdue.

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Not to worry, many hands
are making work light

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again so we stay indoors.

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The quest was only
another adventure too.

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In any case, the ruling
was long overdue.

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The people are beside
themselves with rapture

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so we stay indoors.

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The quest was only
another adventure

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and the solution problematic at
any rate far off in the future.

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The people are beside
themselves with rapture yet

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no one thinks to question
the source of so much

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collective euphoria.

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And the solution problematic, at
any rate far off in the future.

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The saxophone wails, the
martini glass is drained,

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yet no one thinks to question
the source of so much

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collective euphoria.

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In troubled times.

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one looked to the shaman or
priest for comfort and counsel.

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The saxophone wails, the
martini glass is drained

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and night like black
swandowns settles on the city.

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In troubled times, one looked
to the shaman or priest

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for comfort and counsel.

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Now, only the willing are
fated to receive death

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as a reward and night
like black swansdown

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settles down the city.

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If we tried to leave
would being naked help us?

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Three.

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Now only the willing are fated
to receive death as a reward.

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Children twist hula
hoops imagining a door

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to the outside.

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If we tried to leave,
would being naked help us?

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And what of older
lighter concerns?

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What of the river?

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Children twist hula
hoops imagining a door

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to the outside when
all we think of

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is how much we can carry with
us and what of older lighter

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concerns?

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What of the river?

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All the behemoths have filed
through the maze of time.

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When all we think of is how
much we can carry with us,

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small wonder that those at home
sit nervous by the unlit grate.

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All behemoths have filed
through the maze of time.

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It remains for us to come to
terms with our commonality.

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Small wonder that those at home
sit nervous by the unlit grate.

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It was their choice
after all that spurred us

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to feats of the imagination.

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It remains for us to come to
terms with our commonality,

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and in so doing deprive
time of further hostages.

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Four.

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It was their choice
after all it spurred us

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to feats to the imagination.

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Now, silently as one mounts a
stair we emerge into the open

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and in so doing deprive
time of further hostages

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to end the standoff that
history long ago began.

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Now silently as one mounts a
stair, we emerge into the open

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but it is shrouded, veiled.

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We must have made
some ghastly error

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to end the standoff that
history long ago began.

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Must we thrust ever
onward into perversity?

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But it is shrouded, veiled.

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We must have made
some ghastly error.

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You mop your
forehead with a rose,

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recommending its
thorns must be thrust

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ever onward into perversity.

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Only night knows for sure.

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The secret is safe with her.

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You mop your forehead with a
rose, recommending its thorns.

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Research has shown
that ballads were

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produced by all of society.

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Only night can say for sure
the secret is safe with her.

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The people then knew what they
wanted and how to get it."

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That is not a very
commonly used form

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but there is a poem
by Baudelaire one

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of his greatest poems
called Harmony Du Soir,

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which is a pantoum.

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