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[evictedSaint]

For those of you who haven't seen it already, Toady posted some examples of poetic descriptions here that showed us what to expect in the next update.  I thought, "what better way to celebrate this new addition of flavor to the wonderful world of Dwarf Fortress than to have a Poetry Competition?!" 

A poetic description from the game would be chosen and people could write their own interpretations that follow the given details.  Then, the winner (chosen by popular vote at the end of the week) could select a new poem, which would become the following weeks challenge. The idea is blatantly stolen from the Forgotten Beast Art Contest, which if you haven't looked at yet you should definitely give a peek! 

What do you guys think?

[Meph]

In that case, lets start:

A poetic form intended to express grief over a chosen subject, originating in The Mists of Winding. The poem is a single couplet. It is always written from the perspective of a relative of the author. Use of metaphor is characteristic of the form. The second line of the couplet presents a different view of the subject of the first line. The first line concerns the past. It has five feet with a tone pattern of even-uneven-even. The second line concerns current events. It has four feet with a tone pattern of uneven-even-even.

Honestly, I might suggest leaving out all the part I marked as glowing. Might be too hard to find contestants otherwise.

[Emma]

Well I might as well have a go. I doubt I'll win, or even do well, but I'm excited to see what others come up with.

[Baffler]

I might take a crack at this.

[Detros]

Great idea.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

A poetic form intended to express grief over a chosen subject, originating in The Mists of Winding. The poem is a single couplet. It is always written from the perspective of a relative of the author. Use of metaphor is characteristic of the form. The second line of the couplet presents a different view of the subject of the first line. The first line concerns the past. It has five feet with a tone pattern of even-uneven-even. The second line concerns current events. It has four feet with a tone pattern of uneven-even-even.

Honestly, I might suggest leaving out all the part I marked as glowing. Might be too hard to find contestants otherwise.

which I broke down to:
- about grief
- from The Mists of Winding
- about relatives of speaker
- uses metaphors
- 2 lines: 1st about past, 2nd about current state
- 2 lines: 1st 5x (EUE) = 15 syllables, 2nd 4x (UEE) = 12 syllables

I think (according to Toady's devlog) any language qualifies but English is probably going to me most welcomed. Let's try it.

I made this

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Far to the south they dug too deep bit more than they could bear,
the big band came, killed them all, and now just mists do wind there.

Then I tossed in relatives and more metaphors:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Far to the south my sons dug deep bit more than they could bear,
clowns came to town, laughing them off, and now only mists do wind there.

And shortened the second line:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Far to the south my sons dug deep bit more than they could bear,
clowns came to town and now only mists do wind there.

I think I have managed to match all restrictions beside that (un)even-ness. But as a non-native English speaker I am settled with syllables count (and sing-ability of the poem in my head).

By the way: The world is already watching.

[Bearskie]

Love this idea, hoping to read some great poetry from you talented people.  By the way, did you notice your timestamp is 04:42:42?

[evictedSaint]

Obviously it's going to be difficult to follow every peom.

i.e.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

A reflective poetic form intended to satirize a chosen subject, originating in The Muddy Monsters. The poem is thirty-six nine-line stanzas.

------

A ribald poetic form intended to praise a lover, originating in The Laborious Sun. The poem is a single couplet. Use of assonance, consonance and vivid imagery is characteristic of the form. The second line of the couplet uses the same placement of allusions as the first line. The second line of the couplet presents a different view of the subject of the first line. The first line has six syllables. The second line has nine syllables.

Artistic liscence is perfectly fine - no one expects the translation from Dwarven to English (or your language of choice) to be perfect, though you get style points for how close you stay to the original.

And I would also suggest that picking a novel-length poem is poor form.

By the way, did you notice your timestamp is 04:42:42?

* evictedSaint x-files themesong starts playing

[Detros]

A reflective poetic form intended to satirize a chosen subject, originating in The Muddy Monsters. The poem is thirty-six nine-line stanzas.
And I would also suggest that picking a novel-length poem is poor form.

Beowulf has like ~3200 lines.

[evictedSaint]

A reflective poetic form intended to satirize a chosen subject, originating in The Muddy Monsters. The poem is thirty-six nine-line stanzas.
And I would also suggest that picking a novel-length poem is poor form.

Beowulf has like ~3200 lines.

Still, picking a 300+ line poem might be too much.

[SirQuiamus]

Dwarven poets apparently have a rather diverse store of metrical feet: some of them are familiar stress patterns, while others are, interestingly, tone patterns. (Perhaps Toady is planning to make the official Dwarvish a tonal language after all.) The competition sounds challenging and fun, and I might participate at some point, but I seem to be unable to come up with a pithy couplet right now.

[Loimulohi]

I was hoping there'd be a topic for poems but I guess this thread'll have to do. I tried my hand at the ribald poetic form intended to praise a lover, originating in The Laborous Sun:

Like plump helmets, her rump's velvet
Like quarry bush her merry tush grows hairy daily

[Detros]

I was hoping there'd be a topic for poems but I guess this thread'll have to do. I tried my hand at the ribald poetic form intended to praise a lover, originating in The Laborous Sun:

Like plump helmets, her rump's velvet
Like quarry bush her merry tush grows hairy daily

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

A ribald poetic form intended to praise a lover, originating in The Laborious Sun. The poem is a single couplet. Use of assonance, consonance and vivid imagery is characteristic of the form. The second line of the couplet uses the same placement of allusions as the first line. The second line of the couplet presents a different view of the subject of the first line. The first line has six syllables. The second line has nine syllables.

This one? I don't know if there has "just for poems" thread been already started but here, once this form is selected, your poem will surely be added into competing ones.

Currently selected form is that

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

A poetic form intended to express grief over a chosen subject, originating in The Mists of Winding. The poem is a single couplet. It is always written from the perspective of a relative of the author. Use of metaphor is characteristic of the form. The second line of the couplet presents a different view of the subject of the first line. The first line concerns the past. It has five feet with a tone pattern of even-uneven-even. The second line concerns current events. It has four feet with a tone pattern of uneven-even-even.

[evictedSaint]

Nothing has been selected just yet. This thread is merely an interest check.  Once Toady puts up the next version, I'll make a  new thread for the competition.

[ISGC]

I'd be willing to participate if you could give me a crash course on what all the terminology means

[Meph]

I'd be willing to participate if you could give me a crash course on what all the terminology means

Oh yes, a quick explanation on the key words in the OP would be nice.