Porter Poetics (Double-Barreled) (And Now With Elephant!)
Admittedly, Fred Astaire and not Cole Porter. (Fred more picturesque.)
Into Porter
The trick of Cole Porter,
other than the high order
of wit, is the double rhyme.
Sure, he writes of bubble time–
champagne and effervescence,
an age’s evanescence–
But true magic’s in his lexicon,
a lingua so complexly on
it targets at once the steppes of Russia
and also the pants of a Roxy usha’.
(Mahatma Gandhi, Mickey Mouse–
all hold hands in Porter’s house.)
The man is just so archly cunning
that our banal’s his sparkly stunning,
the double-barreled foot-long rhymes
not paralleled by Steve Sondheim’s.
Easy to love, delightful to dance to,
delovely to sing, also romance to–
When times are hard, hard-timers croon,
oh Cole, my man, rhyme me a tune.
**********************************************
I, who am proud to number myself among the hard (and old) timers loving Cole Porter, am posting the above (a revision) for the dVerse Poets Pub Poetics prompt, which today deals with music, and is hosted by Stu McPherson. Check out the wonderful poems at dVerse. (Mine, I suspect is one of the sillier ones.)
However, if you are in the mood for more silliness (especially silliness associated with Broadway musicals), also check out my comic novel NOSE DIVE. A great deal of fun at a very cheap price.
Not quite Fred or Cole!
Tags: Cole Porter's double-barreled rhyming lyrics, Fred Astaire drawing, manicddaily, poem about Cole Porter, Porter is the Top, Porter Poetics
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ManicDDaily 
May 5, 2012 at 7:44 pm
It is good to appreciate the music of those who came before. You caught the mood of Porter in this poem. I especially love the last stanza, and I can definitely hear the rhymes. You chose the perfect picture too.
May 5, 2012 at 7:47 pm
Thanks! It’s a picture I drew. An older one but seemed to fit. K.
May 5, 2012 at 8:16 pm
You say this is silly, but your construction and choice of words is excellent. This makes me wanna tap dance round my house! Better not though- it’s 2am- the wife will cut my head off. Really like the close- ‘when times are hard, hard timers croon’- love it
May 5, 2012 at 8:19 pm
Thanks so much, Stu.
May 5, 2012 at 8:21 pm
I grew up on that stuff–it’s sparkly indeed, that mid-war time, and I love to hear Billie Holday sing him in her scratchy cool voice. My mother loved musicals, but of course, growing up in the Second City, we could only see the Broadway hits performed if someone remade them in Hollywood or on TV. I can hum most of them, anyway. You do silly very well here–but I’m perplexed that Fred is not a dancing elephant.
May 5, 2012 at 8:22 pm
I DO have a tapdancing elephant! I forgot all about it. And it is much cuter. (It doesn’t look like Fred though.) Maybe I will add if I can find it. K.
May 5, 2012 at 8:22 pm
PS Thanks. K.
May 6, 2012 at 9:23 am
Oh, that is a very adorable elephant, K. He looks like he could tap dance his way through Dancing with the Giraffes and win, even without a professional partner. ;_)
May 6, 2012 at 10:00 am
Ha! Giraffes! Perhaps a new subject matter! (Without political overtones – the only problem with elephants.) K.
May 5, 2012 at 8:38 pm
He was an amazing song writer and his music wasn’t only de lovey but, it was beautiful as well..Thank you for using him for this prompt
May 5, 2012 at 9:26 pm
ha..love your pic…and love your verse…double rhymes are def fun and you got creative with it…and what is there to say of cole porter…enjoyed….
May 5, 2012 at 9:30 pm
Thanks, Brian. K.
May 5, 2012 at 9:44 pm
I appreciate the rhyming words and elegance of his dance steps ~
Creative take on the music prompt ~ Very nice ~
May 5, 2012 at 10:15 pm
great imagery and rhymes. i like the achingly cunning the best
tenaciously as conundrum
May 5, 2012 at 11:08 pm
I like some of those old crooners too; for them, it is all about the voice and the singing. whereas there is so much other stuff in more recent music (which I like too). I also like the rhyme in your poem; I’ve grown to like rhyme more over time (there you go :P)
May 6, 2012 at 12:07 am
Very rhythmic, matches the image perfectly. I enjoyed it.
May 6, 2012 at 2:01 am
Never silly! There’s a place for deep and dark, and a place for fun and entertaining… And everythng in between! Either way it comes from something meaningful to the writer and that is what makes a piece beautiful, when you put a little of your heart into the mix! Thanks for this piece, and the imagery, very cool.
May 6, 2012 at 2:13 am
Yeah, Porter was an outstanding lyricist. I have a couple albums that are tributes, with modern musicians adapting Porter’s music to their style. Seems to work no matter what style of music. And who doesn’t like Sinatra, I think those Porter/Sinatra songs are some of the best. Fun piece here. Thanks
May 6, 2012 at 2:16 am
very cool…you rhymed quite some tunes yourself…love the flow of this and it made me smile all over my face…nice..
May 6, 2012 at 3:05 am
What a delightful post!
May 6, 2012 at 6:16 am
The old conundrum in a new guise: What do you give the poem that has everything?
Well, the tap dancing elephant is all that this needs. Give it that, and it truly does has everything.
May 6, 2012 at 7:04 am
Thank you K for your comment at my poem. I was waiting for comment on the poem or its message.
May 6, 2012 at 7:09 am
You are welcome. There is definitely something very compelling about musician’s hands. K.
May 6, 2012 at 8:04 am
Fantabulous !! ah I love the old classics !!
your seductively persuasive dialect takes me right back!!
no singles no jingles
no razzamatazz
gimme a double shot
of that old fashioned jazz
Mingus on the groove
Ella’s doin’ skat
Charlie’s blowin’ trumpet
I like it like that
an old master croones
some speakeasy tunes
like your main man Cole
had old fashioned soul
May 6, 2012 at 8:53 am
Ha! Very good. K.
May 6, 2012 at 9:22 am
Now I want to take my day and fill it with show tunes (instead of the chore list I’m starring down!) Fun and light-hearted, yet spot-on in its flow. You rocked the prompt!
May 6, 2012 at 10:01 am
Thanks so much. K.
May 6, 2012 at 6:30 pm
This si sky and wittily crafted, like the master himself! I’m not educated in this genre, though I have heard some tunes and find them very charming and catchy. As I’ve aged I find that me earlier elitism has given way a more balanced willingness to listen to any type of music. Anyway, your piem was immensely enjoyable, and I found joy in living the music through your words and craft.
May 6, 2012 at 6:33 pm
Thanks so much, Charles. I should have linked some video, but focused on elephant instead. Porter did songs like “You’re the top,” “I get a kick out of you,” “Delovely,” “Anything Goes,” (that whole musical), “Night and Day,” k.
May 7, 2012 at 12:20 am
I cannot think of Cole Porter without thinking of Fred Astaire. Fred and Adele were more Gershwin as a duo, but Fred’s singing of Porter tunes is really quite wonderful… not to mention the dancing. I’m a former nightclub singer/pianist, so this is my favorite subject. First visit to your blog, and glad I came! Amy
Here was my musical post for dverse, includes a track of my singing and playing a demo! Peace, Amy
May 7, 2012 at 12:21 am
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May 7, 2012 at 12:38 pm
Really cool, I enjoyed this.
May 7, 2012 at 12:43 pm
Thanks so much, Shanyns.