Reviews from

How they Brought the Virus ...

A cruel parody

25 total reviews 
Comment from webfoot
Exceptional
This work has reached the exceptional level

oh wow. You are a very accomplished poet Pantygynt. This is really good and i am aware of how the U.K. delt with the virus in the beginning - it was horrendous.

You say it well here and i like the way you put numbers between the stanzas. I have a really long poem coming up and will do that too. I think it makes reading through long poems easier

 Comment Written 26-Jul-2020


reply by the author on 27-Jul-2020
    Oh! It is good of you to review this so generously when there is no longer any real money on it. Thank you very much for this six star review.
reply by webfoot on 27-Jul-2020
    you are welcome Pantygynt. It's never been about money for me, writing that is :)
Comment from JudyE
Excellent
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The original 'How They Bought The Good News' was one of my mother's favourite poems and I read it to her many times in her last years. This is also most enjoyable. What fools we have running some of our countries.

 Comment Written 31-May-2020


reply by the author on 31-May-2020
    I have to say I don't know much about your fools, but the couple on either bank of the pond more than make up for any deficiencies in foolishness elsewhere.
reply by JudyE on 31-May-2020
    We are lucky really in Australia. I was thinking more of the UK and USA but didn't want to sound too rude or smug.
reply by the author on 31-May-2020
    Since when did an Aussie ever worry about sounding rude? (sorry couldn't resist that one).
reply by JudyE on 31-May-2020
    I must have a bit of something else in me. I worry about it quite a bit. lol
Comment from Ulla
Excellent
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Hi Jim, I just think this whole business stinks!!! I've lived enough years in Britain to understand it all. My ex-husband is Scottish, my best friends are British from all over the country. I have an English/Welsh law degree even. Only saying this, so you understand my understanding of your country. I'm disgusted with Boris/Cummings and company. One law for them and one for the rest of us. I loved your poem, by the way. I'm here in Spain, and we've been so hard hit by all this. All best. Ulla:)))

 Comment Written 30-May-2020


reply by the author on 31-May-2020
    Many thanks for this. I suppose my interest in the squalid affairs of our political glitterati goes back to the days of John Profumo and Christine Keeler. Nothing changes except their bare-faced effrontery, which gets worse and worse. They don't even apologise or resign any more.
Comment from Sugarray77
Excellent
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Haha.. you did a fantastic job with this parody, Jim. Being a Yank, some of the slang, locations, and UK English did trip me up a bit, but with your deft touch, you made it a really good read. Well done, my friend!!

Melissa

 Comment Written 30-May-2020


reply by the author on 30-May-2020
    Many thanks for this review. I knew it might be difficult those unlikely to be abreast of the peccadilloes of English political advisers.

    I see now that everyone who wishes to join a Zoom meeting has to download the latest version. Can you keep me abreast of the latest developments as a frequent user? Any morning (your time) if you like to invite me by email. I have download the latest (5) anyway.
Comment from Sandra du Plessis
Excellent
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A very well-written poem abut the way the covid-19 virus find its way through the country, while one person drive from place to place without realize he is carrying the virus from town to town.

 Comment Written 29-May-2020


reply by the author on 29-May-2020
    Thank you very much for reading and commenting on this poem.
Comment from write hand blue
Excellent
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A mastery poem written as a parody of the existing poem by Robert Browning. I enjoyed the journey you took us on. Written with skill and humour about a serious subject. A further illustration of the fact that there's one law for the general public and one for the select few. Keep safe. ~Mel~

 Comment Written 29-May-2020


reply by the author on 29-May-2020
    Thank you very much for reading and reviewing this so enthusiastically.
Comment from Pearl Edwards
Excellent
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I could follow along, on this trip through the country, him and his virus have made our news over here too. I liked the way they had to drive all that way for to get a 4 year old looked after. Very cleverly done, and a humourous take on this.
cheers,
valda

 Comment Written 28-May-2020


reply by the author on 29-May-2020
    I pulled no punches because I didn't believe a word of his story as far as justification for his travels were concerned. Caught in a trap and wriggling desperately but he's hooked. however good he was at his job he should have been ditched but the only one who could have sacked him didn't have the balls to do it.
Comment from Gloria ....
Excellent
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Bloody brotherly of the Chief Adviser to cart the virus from Gateshead from Kent. Although I am somewhat mystified why he didn't just leave it there.

What do you call this metre, Anapest? I like the jauntiness of it and makes a "longish" poem read like the breeze, unlike iambic pentametre which can be laboriously slow or so it seems.

Excellent parody of Browning's poem and I much enjoyed the entire caper.

Too bad the lawmakers always seem to be first in line to break the rules they so liberally shower on others.

A most enjoyable read today. :)

Gloria

 Comment Written 28-May-2020


reply by the author on 29-May-2020
    Browning had them on a one way trip, which was more than enough for horse and man. I am amazed that the disco managed a total of 560 miles without needing professional attention. I think he came back for the same reason as he went -- it seemed a good idea at the time.

    Many thanks for your good humoured review of this piece of nonsense.
Comment from Dolly'sPoems
Excellent
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Hilarious! Very amusing and of course it is a laughable situation and the more we hear about it the more extraordinary it sounds! Especially the defective vision! Not sure if covid affects the eyesight! You made me smile here, love Dolly x

 Comment Written 28-May-2020


reply by the author on 28-May-2020
    Apparently one of the symptoms is conjunctivitis. And I heard him on TV say he drove thise sixty miles to see if he could see well enough to drive to London. I could hardly believe my ears.

    Thanks for the review and happy to leave you laughing.
reply by Dolly'sPoems on 28-May-2020
    He has made himself the laughing stock and he will never live this down, but Boris is sticking with him because he can?t do his job without him! Ha ha ha, love Dolly x
Comment from lyenochka
Excellent
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Thanks for the explanation and for Browning's poem! After seeing the original, I can admire your form more for the use of the same rhymes and some of the same elements from the sun and the pressing of crowds.
I didn't know the story but it is such a shame when our own leaders won't follow their own guidelines. At least, it wasn't Boris.
Your notes has: 'see if I could dee well enough to drive back to London (you probably want to close the quote somewhere and maybe you meant "see" not "dee?")

 Comment Written 28-May-2020


reply by the author on 28-May-2020
    Thanks for picking up on the typos and for taking the trouble to involve yourself with our idiots when you have enough of your own over there.