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Grex Writing Item 147: As I Was Going to Scarbrough Fair
Entered by remmers on Thu May 4 11:50:50 UTC 1995:

        As I was going to Scarbrough Fair
        I met a man who wasn't there.
        Who'd have thought that such could be?
        Not you, not him, not her, not me!

        I'll tell you how he didn't look:
        Not like a thimble, carp, or rook.
        He didn't look like Forrest Gump
        Or like a camel's middle hump.

        And here is what he didn't say:
        "I left my heart at Thunder Bay."
        And here is what he didn't ask:
        "Have you seen my Opus mask?"

        I'd tell you what he didn't do
        But it was so complex that you
        Nor I could start to comprehend
        And details would but vaguely blend.

        Of course, he didn't have a hat,
        Nor any coat, and for that mat-
        Ter neither did he have a shoe,
        Nor collar, tie, nor dickey too.

        Was he happy, angry, glum?
        Wore a mushroom on his thumb?
        Green beard hanging to his waist?
        Nose stuck on with library paste?

        Five miles wide and ten miles tall?
        Eyes the size of Albert Hall?
        Holding nine immense balloons
        Decorated with cartoons?

        Or, perhaps, a tiny guy,
        Riding on a tsetse fly?
        By his side would you have met
        A common flea, his faithful pet?
        
        Equestrian, would that be him?
        Galloping just on a whim
        Wherever fancy took his heart?
        Centaur dude, a breed apart?

        Answer's no to all of course;
        He wasn't giant, mite, nor horse,
        But just a figment, etched in air --
        And so, in truth, was Scarbrough Fair.

11 responses total.

#1 of 11 by odye on Thu May 4 14:33:25 1995:

Hey, that was fun!! I liked it. Lots of twists, good phrases...

#2 of 11 by brighn on Thu May 4 15:41:17 1995:

john, what are you smoking?  can i have some?  :)
<that was a compliment, by the way... it's hard to tell with me>

#3 of 11 by kami on Fri May 5 18:01:53 1995:

Nicely done, in the great folk tradition of stealing wherever you can get it.
Thanks!

#4 of 11 by remmers on Sat May 6 11:33:02 1995:

I stole?

#5 of 11 by rcurl on Sat May 6 18:42:48 1995:

There is a poem and/or balad about Scarborough Fair, which, however, would
certainly not bear much resemblance to this poem. I have not been able
to find it yet. Besides, this is Scarbrough Fair, not Scarborough.

#6 of 11 by brighn on Sun May 7 04:20:29 1995:

Well, there's always:
"Are you going to Scarborough fair, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme..."
but little resemblance to above.
However, I did get the distinct impression that #0 was similar to many
things I have read before, an odd mix of genres, styles, and rhythms.
"We passed upon the stair, although he was not there"  -- D. Bowie

#7 of 11 by remmers on Sun May 7 23:03:50 1995:

I seem to remember encountering a children's poem about "the little
man who wasn't there", when I was a child.

#8 of 11 by rcurl on Mon May 8 06:49:38 1995:

"As I was going up the stair
 I met a man who wasn't there.
 He wasn't there again today.
 I wish, I wish, he'd go away."

#9 of 11 by remmers on Mon May 8 10:33:24 1995:

Yep, that's it.

#10 of 11 by rcurl on Mon May 8 16:31:51 1995:

I think the first line is actually:
 "Yesterday upon the stair"
I thought it might be Edward Lear, but I have the complete Lear, and
didn't find it there. Or, on the stair.

#11 of 11 by remmers on Tue May 9 10:44:23 1995:

Perhaps it's autobiographical.

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