‘Tis two days after Christmas; in drafting this post,
I’m hearing a meter that’s cited the most
With poems familiar, in terms of the Yuletide.
Apply it to films, now, with bit of break school-wide.
The McCallister family: flying to France!
Leave the house undefended? There’s nary a chance,
Since Kevin will battle with Marv and with Harry,
‘Till Kate finds return trip with polka band merry.
Next, the otter-led epic on shore of the stream,
As Emmet and Ma pursue musical dreams…
A seeming-lost contest yields shared melody:
“The Gift of the Magi,” when river meets sea.
Last, a marathon viewing each 12/25,
Where Ralphie’s narration will keep hope alive
For the Red Ryder gift with this thing which tells time:
Another Yule saga, condensed into rhyme.
A pleasant diversion of holiday means;
Anapestic tetrameter framing the scenes;
A trio of stories in metric compliance.
Happy New Year to all! And now back to verse-science.
***
Heading through the Twelve Days of Christmas, I enjoyed putting this longer poem together, as an homage to some of the holiday movies I know well, using the familiar cadence of both Clement Clarke Moore’s “A Visit from St. Nicholas” and Dr. Seuss’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”
‘Tis two days after Christmas; in drafting this post, /
I’m hearing a meter that’s cited the most /
With poems familiar, in terms of the Yuletide. /
Apply it to films, now, with bit of break school-wide.
As noted above, it is a rewarding challenge to match the meter of two of the most familiar and beloved poems from this season, and the longer days of the winter break help make it feasible.
The McCallister family: flying to France! /
Leave the house undefended? There’s nary a chance, /
Since Kevin will battle with Marv and with Harry, /
‘Till Kate finds return trip with polka band merry.
The first summary is that of Home Alone. Protagonist Kevin McCallister defends his family home from two hapless burglars, Harry and Marv, when he is accidentally left behind from a family vacation to Paris.
Interspersed with the scenes of Kevin’s adventures is the tale of Kevin’s mother, Kate, braving several airport misadventures as she travels back home to Kevin. She finds a ride with a polka band for the last stretch of her odyssey, home to Chicago (by way of Scranton).
Next, the otter-led epic on shore of the stream, /
As Emmet and Ma pursue musical dreams… /
A seeming-lost contest yields shared melody: /
“The Gift of the Magi,” when river meets sea.
The second commemorates a favorite special from the Muppets: “Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas.” Emmet and Ma Otter celebrate the holiday season while remembering Emmet’s dad, Pa Otter. They each aspire to find a way to give the other a musical instrument, aiming to win a contest with a monetary prize.
The plot ultimately gives rise to its own moving twist on O. Henry’s beautiful “The Gift of the Magi,” closing with the song “When the River Meets the Sea,” written by Paul Williams.
Last, a marathon viewing each 12/25, /
Where Ralphie’s narration will keep hope alive /
For the Red Ryder gift with this thing which tells time: /
Another Yule saga, condensed into rhyme.
And the last celebrates another well-known movie, A Christmas Story. It is based on author Jean Shepherd’s book In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash, and Shepherd provides the narration in the voice of protagonist Ralphie, remembering his childhood.
Since the movie airs on a 24-hour loop each December 25, its lines have long been familiar ones; one of my favorite scenes sees Ralphie wax eloquent in an essay for school about the Red Ryder BB gun he desperately wants for Christmas, hailing its “compass in the stock, and this thing which tells time.”
A pleasant diversion of holiday means; /
Anapestic tetrameter framing the scenes; /
A trio of stories in metric compliance. /
Happy New Year to all! And now back to verse-science.
Anapestic tetrameter is the meter used in the poems by Clement C. Moore and Dr. Seuss, and the name of the meter embodies it (an-a-PEST-ic te-TRA-me-ter), which lets me cite it directly in the closing lines. I find it very fun, each holiday season, to see the many tributes to this memorable form, “in metric compliance.” This effort in “framing the scenes” (i.e., the “moving images” of the post’s title) has likewise been a good way to spend some time during the slightly slower season of the winter break.
The New Year will bring both the spring semester and, in these posts, a more formal return to chemistry-themed poetry!
Chemphasis 