inversions in poetry

[abu nuwas]

I have never seen a 'Starwars' film, but I see that 'Yoda', so often used to mock with, is a rather childish looking puppet, who, it seems, speaks back-wards : if you wish, there is a 'yoda' generator, which will put whatever text you type, into this style. Perhaps the film-maker was not exposed to much tuition, and this was his ignorant response.

You mention several times that inversion is 'like cliché', and then go on to attack cliché. A fresh insight might be to reflect on the necessity of cliché, since we all use it. A fresh response might have addressed my question about metaphor and alliteration being given a free pass, and in fact lauded to the Heavens, while 'people to-day' despise and jeer at inversion.

It also fails, for you, because you see it as an indicator of dross to follow. So criticise the dross - the inversion is quite a separate thing.

Most irrational of all, you hold that if you read 'a sonnet of old' ('old sonnet', surely, old bean?) , that's OK. you expect that sort of language. But if done now -yuk, affected and I don't know what; just not the thing. Seems sensible, right? But wait! In the land of the Pig, we judge only on the words before us, the intended meaning is irrelevant, the author is irrelevant, only the bare piece counts. No notes, no need to know author, let alone when s/he was writing. Could be now, could be five hundred years ago, or one hundred or fifty. We may not even know whether they wrote before or after the date for 'inversion-acceptability' - which would have been when, btw? So you do not have (or need) the information required to tell you whether you may like or must feel embarrassed by all this 'yoda'.

To cap it all, you concede that it is OK sometimes. What! So how might that work? If all you are saying, is don't write rubbish, good luck with that. Leave inversion out of it.

I scarcely post here, but cannot help but thing that the more 'tut tuts' you introduce -little mini-taboos, while sailing under the colours of no rules, the less likely are people to write in an original way. I also looked at Ella's thing, and it sure ain't perfick, but her seeming ability to use words, even bordering on the flowery, contrasted with a lot of more self-conscious, slightly gritty, boring, samey dross.

I blame Dale for this. He is the nicest bloke, but that Erthona is a complete prick, who has probably ruined Loretta's chances.....