The Question

[Hawkman]

Where are the snows of yesteryear?
I’ll tell you where they’ve gone,
with global warming here to stay,
they’re highways for the swan.
The ice-age that they promised us
would freeze us all to death -
it now seems far less likely
than us drowning in the depths.

Where are the snows of yesteryear?
The ice caps, they’re all melting.
Me, I’m going to build an ark
before the rain starts pelting.
So when the sea-shore tracks inland
and mountains become beaches,
you’ll find me on the high ground, mate,
just like the bible teaches.

Where are the snows of yesteryear?
and quiet now the drunkard,
I ponder how to tell him through
the bottom of his tankard.
Anyway, his ears are deaf,
he turns away too soon,
his thoughts upon another drink,
the ignorant buffoon.

Where are the snows of yesteryear?
Like beauty that has passed,
preserved now just in memory
until we die at last.

[hillwalker]

Another brilliantly worded tirade against our misuse of the environment, and our unwillingness to listen to reason.

Rather a pessimistic and anticlimactic final line if I may be so bold - I had hoped that you in your ark (?) would have escaped along with your hunting birds and holed up somewhere to contemplate man's folly from your lofty perches.

H

[Hawkman]

Hi hill,

Thanks but it was a curious fusion of inspiration brought this one on. Don't know if you are familiar with Francoise Villon's poems but "Where are the snows of yesteryear?" is a fairly famous line from, "Ballade des Dames du Temps Jadis."

Sorry you thought it pessimistic and anticlimactic at the end. Best, H

[PrinceMyshkin]

I was jolted by the beauty of the gone/swan rhyme & trembled that the rest of the poem might not live up to that standard!
Where are the snows of yesteryear?
I’ll tell you where they’ve gone,
with global warming here to stay,
they’re highways for the swan.


I needn't have worried but I do agree with Hillwalker that the final line seems out of key with the rest inasmuch as there's a jauntiness to your description of the horrors we have wrought that is somewhat contradicted by the die, wretched worm tone of the last line.

[Hawkman]

So the volta's a bit rough you think? The tone isn't supposed to be acusatory, just sad and reflective. I was struck by the 'In your face' type rant of the first two stanzas and felt that it was the kind of diatribe one gets subjected to by, 'one of the lads' in a pub.
and how at variance they are to the message of the poem by Villon whose line inspired it.

[dizzydoll]

I almost missed this one. Good job of making us think... well some of us. Then again there are those who will claim the oceans are not rising, to hell with it... thats not the only destruction. :frown5:

One day nobody will be able to swim in those oceans anyway because every one of them will be overflowing with jellyfish due to the slaughter of our sharks and dolphins. My heart aches for a different kind of humanity now... one that is kind.

[lallison]

I thought this one was cleverly worded. I agree that the last two stanzas are not up to the wit of first two. I think you could probably cut them out. And its not that I took the drunkard part personally either, although I was confused by it. Sadly, where I come from, its not so much the drunkards that deny climate change as much as it is the church congregations. It is a tragic phenomena indeed, and cleverly captured here.

[Hawkman]

Thanks, diz and lall.

It is clear to me that on this occasion I should have taken care that my wit hath not too fine a point, lest it should become blunted. Nobody seems to have got the point, which means that either it’s not a good enough point, or I have presented it in too ambiguous a manner.

Inspired as I was by Villon’s, “Ballad of the Ladies of Times Past”, an example of Envoi poetry with the refrain, “where are the snows of yesteryear?” I attempted to produce my own Envois poem, three stanzas with an Envoi, or comment at the end.

The question, “Where are the snows of yesteryear?” invited application to the global warming debate. But the very rhetoric of it was so poetical and associated in my mind with elegant language, that the thought of being harangued on the subject by a pub bore, in love with the sound of his own voice and lecturing someone literate, who just wanted a quiet drink, invited the volta.

The bore, being blind to the literary connotations of the phrase he was using and having sounded off, already looking for his next victim, is completely indifferent to learning the true origins of the line.

So the question is now, do I rewrite the last two stanzas and just make it a witty tirade about global warming?

Best, H

[Lumiere]

I agree with Prince: the "swan line" is brilliant.

And I liked that you brought the Bible in; generally, it's adherers don't believe in global warming, so that was a witty little touch.

[AuntShecky]

I especially liked "highways of the swan," like "whale path" for ocean in Beowulf, and the wit of the second stanza. The third one digresses from the central theme a bit, although a drunkard's stock in trade, so to speak, is of the liquid variety.

As other replies pointed out, I did think of the original by Villon. When I "Googled" it, one of the sites that came up is from an organization that calls itself "globalwarminghoax." But I bet their use of the allusion isn't as clever as yours! But you know what would be splendid and what would make this closer to a true parody? That would be putting it in the form of a ballad which is what the original was or a villanelle, which, don't quote me, but derives its name from Monsieur Villon himself.

ballad
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballade_des_dames_du_temps_jadis

or a villanelle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villanelle

[Bar22do]

Hawkman, hi

I once had to learn Villon's ballad by heart! and loved it... as I usually love poetic narratives... Here, with your wit and irony, you sort of up-grade the style!

"Where are the snows of yesteryear?
The ice caps, they’re all melting.
Me, I’m going to build an ark
before the rain starts pelting.
So when the sea-shore tracks inland
and mountains become beaches,
you’ll find me on the high ground, mate,
just like the bible teaches."

- is my preferred stanza (I'm always eager to read stories and speculations about origins of the flood, past of future! - "yours" is a perspective, for sure... though, why, with such ingenuity at reinventing the ark, should "we die at last" at all?? :cold:)

Your metaphor of the drunkard is far reaching IMO, and the whole piece captivating! Thanks Hawkman!! - Bar

[Hawkman]

Lumiere, Auntie & Bar, thank you all for dropping in.

Auntie, I'm afraid I'm not actually a fan of the Villanelle for but I will try to love it for your sake, (and B/V's) I may have a go at one if I can come up with the inspiration.

According to wickepedia at least, the route of villanelle is latin rather than having any direct connotation to M. Villon ;)

I'm glad you liked the first two stanzas anyway. For the benifit of everyon I have appended a revision at the bottom of this post.

Bar, thank you too for your input! as for not needing to "die at last." I can only assume it is your intention to live for ever... :D If so, you have my best wishes, which accompany the hope that you will be eternally preserved in youthful good health.

Thanks for getting it.

Thanks to everyone for their comments. H

The Question. Mk II

Where are the snows of yesteryear?
I’ll tell you where they’ve gone,
with global warming here to stay,
they’re highways for the swan.
The ice-age that they promised us
would freeze us all to death -
it now seems far less likely
than us drowning in the depths.

Where are the snows of yesteryear?
The ice caps, they’re all melting.
Me, I’m going to build an arc
before the rain starts pelting.
So when the sea-shore tracks inland
and mountains become beaches,
you’ll find me on the high ground, mate,
just like the bible teaches.

Where are the snows of yesteryear?
The ice cores while they last,
have told us what we might expect,
although they’re fading fast.
You’d best stock up on sun cream
and you’d better buy a boat,
for soon the world will just be one
enormous, salty moat.

Where are the snows of yesteryear?
Don’t ask, just close your eyes,
for that way you don’t have to fear,
just hope that it's all lies.

[Bar22do]

congrats for the new ending, indeed!

Bar

[PrinceMyshkin]

Where are the snows of yesteryear?
Don’t ask, just close your eyes,
for that way you don’t have to fear,
just hope that its all lies.

Hm, no: unfortunately, it has to stand up to the much more punchy original version... By contrast this is, dare I say, somewhat wimpy.

[Bar22do]

no no no, hawk! your new end gets it all! just perfect biting statement about how men would rather lie to themselves than take action, relate and change (by the way and in response to your question, I definitely could go on, on an ark or on any dry land, providing men open wide their eyes though!...) - best - Bar

[Hawkman]

Hi Bar,

Well, you seem to like both endings, which is nice. Coversely, it seems Prince doesn't like either. What a pity. My personal preference is for the original, to be honest. But if you want an all out tirade about global meltdown, which is the impression I got from most of the comments, then I guess the revision is the one for you.

As you are my favourite fan, Bar, what would you like next?

Best, H

[lallison]

Maybe if the durnkard was drowning in the ensuing waters and still denying global warming, or if the churches were overflown in the moat you could get your punch in. As it stands, I like this one's coherency, but I see Prince's point too.