John M. Ford
There has been a flurry of activity in the "blogosphere" around the passing away of John M. Ford. Making Light just posted an entry with a large number of his various comments and writings (there seems not to be much distinction between the two terms, in his case). I found a number of them wildly entertaining, so I'm going to reprint them here. The original article on Making Light is here: Mike Ford: Occasional Works (Pt. One) I also have one stolen from Neil Gaiman's journal.
John M. Ford's comments are so chock full of allusion that you might just drown in it, and he has a satirical streak as wide as the Mississippi. Beware.
( John M. Ford, selective collection )
The villanelle is what?
Enter Mr Jno. Ford (the Elizabethan one) as King Edward the Fourth.
I am the King now, and I want a sandwich.
This monarch business makes a fellow hungry.
I wonder where my brother Richard is.
What happened to the kippers left from breakfast?
Or maybe there’s a bit of cold roast pheasant.
I am the King now, and I want a sandwich.
A civil war is such an awful bother.
We fought at Tewksbury and still ran out of mustard.
I wonder where my brother Richard is.
Speak not to me of pasta Marinara.
I know we laid in lots of boar last Tuesday.
I am the King now, and I want a sandwich.
The pantry seems entirely full of Woodvilles
And Clarence has drunk two-thirds of the cellar.
I wonder where my brother Richard is.
If I ran England like I run that kitchen
You’d half expect somebody to usurp it.
I am the King now, and I want a sandwich.
I wonder where my brother Richard is.