Sunday 5 October 2008

"Palin is the world’s worst sestina"

I'd like to refer readers to some poetic fun from The New York Times' book blog.

So what verse form suits the various candidates best? David Orr, author of the Book Review’s “On Poetry” column, offered this analysis: “Barack Obama is pretty clearly a haiku — quiet, unassuming, easy to underestimate. McCain is probably some species of ballad, especially considering his military background and fondness for ‘Invictus.’ Biden just keeps talking and talking, so he’s a rhopalic poem (each line is one syllable longer than the preceding line). Palin is the world’s worst sestina.”

Orr gamely attempted an anti-Biden haiku (“Barack Obama/ Such an articulate guy./ Clean, too, am I right?”), but his heart just wasn’t in it. “I think Palin is just inherently funnier than Biden,” he said, before letting it rip with this rather artful three-liner:

So jobs, they … you know,
Health care’s really …. it’s — Katie,
That bridge? I said no.

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