Another, errm, masterpiece of sorts from Jason Strugnell…

From “Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis”, first published in 1986.

Poor Strugnell. The syllables number seventeen, properly arranged in a

5-7-5 pattern; the seasonal references are all present and accounted for; why, there are even cherry blossoms and falling leaves and the winter moon…

… and yet there’s something about his haiku that doesn’t quite work. Oh

well.

— Thomas

PS. <grin>

[Quoting from a previous encounter with Cope and Strugnell]

This is but one of several works attributed by Wendy Cope to the

impressionable South London poet Jason Strugnell, whose misfortune has been to fall under the all-too-obvious influence of one great poet after another…

Links

The said previous encounter was “Strugnell’s Rubaiyat”, which you can read

at poem #587

The above page has a lot more material on parodies - analyses, links, the

works. Check it out!

Moreover

Today’s poem is from “Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis”, Cope’s first book,

which I found at a bookstore just this afternoon. Quoting extensively from the dust-jacket:

"”Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis”, Wendy Cope’s first book, was an

immediate bestseller, delighting readers with its unconventional mixture of satire, candid love poetry, and parody. It includes examples of work by Jason Strugnell, the haplessly influenceable bard of Tulse Hill, as well as poems in Wendy Cope’s own voice…

… Wendy Cope was born in Erith, Kent. She was educated at Farringtons

School and read History at St Hilda’s College, Oxford. After university she worked for fifteen years as a primary-school teacher in London. In 1987 she received the Cholmondeley Award for poetry and, in 1995, the American Academy of Letters Michael Braude Award for Light Verse. She is now a freelance writer. She has written another collection of verse, “Serious Concerns”, a book of rhymes for children, “Twiddling Your Thumbs”, and a long poem, “The River Girl”, and she has edited an anthology of women’s poetry for teenagers, “Is That the New Moon?”.”

– Dust-jacket of “Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis”, Faber & Faber, 1986

Bonus Poem

The collection’s title poem is unskippable:

“Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis”

 It was a dream I had last week
 And some kind of record seemed vital.
 I knew it wouldn't be much of a poem
 But I love the title.

– Wendy Cope