by phillipw | May 28, 2020 | AN, CH, SE, Ta
[The following sonnet may offend some readers. Do not read it if you think you may be offended.] Preincarnation: Rear Regard Action* Talleyrand said, “Love is a reality in the domain of the imagination.” “Celui qui n’a pas vécu au dix-huitième si...
by phillipw | May 28, 2020 | CH, SE, Ta
[The following sonnet may offend some readers. Do not read it if you think you may be offended.] Message to Minister Talleyrand What must it be like, this having no friends? I guess it would be pretty much all right If ladies’ offerings, their bottom ends,...
by phillipw | May 28, 2020 | CH, DI, GA, LO, MA, Ta
July 14, 1790 The rain slopped on le Champ de Mars so hard It was as if the air had disappeared. For this great morn the bishop gave up card- And dicing-table addiction. Revered By no one as a priest, lame Talleyrand Approached the Mass in front of...
by phillipw | May 28, 2020 | CH, FR, MA, MI, Ta
French Cuisine There’s nowt like sour grapes to put men’s teeth On bitchy edge and that would do a lot To clear up why Talleyrand was beneath The others in the heap. He was warm snot– Or worse—to those he bested, if it’s right To use a word...
by phillipw | May 28, 2020 | AR, BI, CA, CH, DU, FR, MA, RA, Ta
Feline Thoughts on Pedigree The English, as usual not nonplussed By foreign aristocracy, impressed No, not at all by noble, upper crust, Unbishoped Talleyrand, were not hard pressed To sneer at Duc de Biron. After all, Detesting frog and wog, Brits would snigger At...
by phillipw | May 27, 2020 | Uncategorized
Encased in Silk — a Sonnet Sequence introduced by a Villanelle En Liberté Conditionnelle “La parole nous été donnée pour déguiser notre pensée.” [“We were given speech to hide our thoughts.” ~ Talleyrand] Napoleon reckoned Talleyrand was...
by phillipw | May 27, 2020 | CH, ET, HU, PA, PI
Pifferari at Eton “Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter.” The young mind loves to wander. Even though It lives at Eton, it will fly to Rome, The Rome of Christmastime. His fancies flow: The boy would wonder at this spire, that dome, And...
by phillipw | May 27, 2020 | BO, CH, EA, EN, FI, GA, HU, LI, PA, RO
Earl Grey in Old Imari Porcelain He could have stayed behind his desk. He could Have signed stock-trading bonds. He could have stayed Not writing symphonies. Each night he would Have travelled home to comfort. Hubert strayed. He could have travelled home each...
