Home Forums Poetry Challenge Week 4: Wit & Wordplay

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    • Kim Simpson
      Forum Administrator
        Post count: 42

        An Enigmatical List of AUTHORS, Lady’s Magazine (March, 1789)

        1.Three fourths of a very useful machine, and a great weight.
        2. A point in the compass, and a vessel, changing the first letter.
        3. One half of a sea-nymph, and a cave.
        4. A place of worship, leaving out a letter, and an eminence.
        5. To draw forward, transposed, and an affirmative.
        6. Half a shade, two thirds of a small barrel, and a warlike instrument.
        7. A consonant, and to be in debt.
        8. One half of the first role in arithmetic, and a male relation.
        9. One half a tree, and a vowel.
        10. A pronoun, and half an insect, reversed.
        11. Distant, two fifths of comical, and one half of a village in Middlesex.
        12. A colour, changing a letter,
        13. A campaign, a preposition, and a consonant.
        14. To fasten, and a vowel.
        15. Sprightly.

        SOLUTIONS

        Enigmatical Solutions

        *

        A Rebus, Sophia Juliana, Lady’s Magazine (March, 1789)

        That goddess who sprung from Jupiter’s brain;
        What Bacchus is crown’d with as poets feign;
        A bird that rises when morning just breaks;
        An instrument whose sound courage awakes;
        Who charm’d with his music the rocks and tress;
        A fabulous god that guards the green seas.
        The initals above when rightly you’ve found,
        Will name you a poet whose works are renown’d.

        SOLUTIONS
        Minerva
        Ivy
        Lark
        Trumpet
        Orpheus
        Nepture

        *

        An Acrostic, H. of B___ley, Lady’s Magazine (January, 1789)

        My humble muse now seeks to paint the fair,
        In whom each winning grace, each charming air,
        Shine forth, bright as the dazzling midday sun;
        Striking with rapture all who gaze thereon.

        Such is her lovely for, but in her mind,
        Truth, innocence, and modesty are join’d;
        On her alone, I think, for her I grieve,
        Cease then to hate, but bid me hope and live;
        Kingdoms I value not, compared to you
        So dear’s my choice; sweet maid, a fond adieu.

        *

        This week, we are looking for word games. Your games must have:

        – A connection to Chawton House
        – A form inspired by eighteenth-century puzzles: acrostics, charades, rebuses, enigmatical lists
        – A solution

        Good luck & we look forward to puzzling over your entry!

      • Kim Simpson
        Forum Administrator
          Post count: 42

          TASK 1
          Start simple.

          Acrostic poems start out with a word that
          Can be made into a poem
          Really, all you need is a starting word to write
          Out, going downwards and then
          Start adding more words that begin with
          Those letters, maybe
          In keeping with a theme, or introducing rhyme or meter, until you have a new poem that
          Can spell out the word you started with.

          Try to begin with just one word after each letter, maybe starting off with the name of a place or a person, and then build up to sentences!

        • Nickolette Turner
            Post count: 270

            Breeze
            Blowing
            Rustling leaves
            Embers dancing though
            Every shift of smoke a
            Zephyrs dance through an
            Enchanted evening light

            • Kim Simpson
              Forum Administrator
                Post count: 42

                Perfect! Very Autumnal, we thought.

            • Kim Simpson
              Forum Administrator
                Post count: 42

                TASK 2
                Building from Acrostics

                Different acrostic structures don’t always have the capitalised words at the beginning of the line, but rather at the beginning of sentences or halfway through a word or line. Experimenting with capitals makes for an entertaining game and allows you to try different ways of writing acrostic poems. Give it a try and see if you can hide a secret message in your poem!

                Alternatively, try writing out clues for each letter of your word. These can be in the right order, or disordered for more of a challenge, meaning your readers have to deal with an anagram after they’ve solved the clues. Can you make them rhyme too? If so, you have a Rebus!

              • Lis Ricketts
                  Post count: 270

                  Can I just say that I was born first and
                  Always seen as the sensible one but my
                  Sister was like quicksilver, lively and clever
                  So bright and witty that she was
                  Always our family’s pride ,though sometimes she was a
                  Nuisance ,yet always my companion in hopes and
                  Dreams …until she left us. When I
                  Read her words now I hear her laughter and life
                  And miss her on every page.

                  • Kim Simpson
                    Forum Administrator
                      Post count: 42

                      Bravo! We absolutely love this!

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