I've been reading the Vorkosigan Saga, and I'm really enjoying the political-intrigue aspect. They've reminded me of a book I read at least five years ago, but I can only half-remember it...hoping the bits and pieces are familiar to someone here:
- a human male protagonist who is a diplomat or attache or moves or works in that area (at least during the events of the novel)
- a politically important event (negotiations?) involving humans and aliens, on earth or another planet (not in space)
- a friend/colleague of the protagonist is a non-human who I believe is a floating sphere (which I think was on the cover and looked sort of pokemon-logo-ish)
- a poetry contest(?) which the sphere person is interested in, and the poetry was a particularly complex form, possibly (or compared to) haiku or tanka (possibly knowing about or composing this type of poetry was necessary or useful in the diplomatic mission)
Any bells?
posted by sarahkeebs
on Aug 13, 2011 -
10 answers
What is the name/term of art for a poem that can be read forward and have one meaning, and again backwards for another?
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posted by Chipmazing
on Aug 9, 2011 -
6 answers
Trying to find a poem: I don't know much about it, but remember a few details. The main details revolve around a guy watching a baseball game while on drugs. It may have been French in origin. It may have been some other sport, but I'm almost positive it was baseball.
posted by codacorolla
on Jul 30, 2011 -
3 answers
Publicdomainpoetryfilter: I'm trying to find a poem (any poem, not a specific poem) that is:
- in the public domain
- written in two "voices" or contains two perspectives
- (less important) one of the voices is prevented from doing something for some sort of reason
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posted by audiodidactic
on Jul 10, 2011 -
8 answers
Trying to track down the location of a quotation by the French/Uruguayan poet Jules Laforgue, mentioned by Johan Huizinga.
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posted by hydatius
on Jul 5, 2011 -
2 answers
Do you honestly enjoy reading free verse? Can you explain to me why I should enjoy it, too?
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posted by anonymous
on Jun 24, 2011 -
27 answers
Could you help me understand a poem? "Frederiksted, Dusk" by Derek Walcott.
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posted by Paquda
on Jun 14, 2011 -
13 answers
What is the title, author, and complete text of a poem that starts with the phrase "October swings from moon to moon"?
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posted by tcskeptic
on Jun 2, 2011 -
1 answer
Trying to find a poem I read in the New Yorker 2-4 years ago -- using only one phrase and one image... help!
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posted by delight
on May 21, 2011 -
5 answers
I am looking for a poem that I read in Time or Newsweek or some such magazine about ten years ago (probably longer). I am almost sure that the poet was Scandinavian and the poem was about the co-existence of good and bad things in the world. The poem illustrated this concept by talking about the existence of a tongue amongst sharp teeth and how a gentle heart is held by the rib cage. Any ideas? Thanks.
posted by harigopal
on May 21, 2011 -
3 answers
Can anyone tell me, well, ANYTHING about a person (hypothetically) standing on the sun?
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posted by argonauta
on May 16, 2011 -
44 answers
(for a friend) I am looking for "the word used to describe a description of a work of art or poem within another work--its a term used in art history and poetics, and it drives me crazy that it escapes me."
posted by idiopath
on Apr 29, 2011 -
10 answers
This is a question for people who read widely, but don't choose to read poetry. What are you're reasons for not reading the stuff?
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posted by troubles
on Apr 27, 2011 -
146 answers
I am looking for a poem I read once online about an artist (Matisse? Gaugin?) who confronts his eye doctor about not wanting to wear eyeglasses. In the poem, the artist talks about how his blurry vision allows him to experience the world as connected. It's a really beautiful poem, but I can't find it through all of the eyeglasses spam on Google.
Can anyone point me to the poem?
posted by salishsea
on Apr 25, 2011 -
5 answers
So, my poetry is going to be in a large local juried art show. One of my poems is professing my love for my boyfriend. We haven't said "I love you." but have discussed marriage and house-buying and will be living together this summer. Should I point out the poem is about him to him?
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posted by lettuchi
on Apr 14, 2011 -
24 answers
Could you help my friend find a poem to comfort the family of a friend who has just died?
The young man had gone through some bumps in his life and was just starting to turn it around, and then, tragically, he died an accidental death.
She’s looking for something fairly short (under 10 lines), modern, nothing too literary, and something that celebrates the immortality of family love.
I’ve looked on previous Ask MeFi posts, but most of the poems I see there are unsuitable for various reasons. She doesn’t want anything tailored to a funeral; she would like to send this poem directly to the family for them to reread in the coming months (perhaps put on a fridge to turn to for comfort).
posted by Amy NM
on Mar 24, 2011 -
19 answers
Again moved by the shimmery beauty of Broken Social Scene's "Market Fresh", after not listening to it for a long time, I decided to look up the song lyrics. I'm interested in people's interpretation of them..
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posted by robobrent
on Mar 6, 2011 -
4 answers
If there are "poetry generator" engines available on the Web, is there anything that comes close to reading input of (English) poetry which then computer-generates the scansion pattern that might result from somebody reading it?
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posted by shipbreaker
on Feb 27, 2011 -
6 answers
KoreanLanguageFilter: Would magnetic poetry work in Korean? I want to make a set as a Valentine's Day gift with Korean and English words.
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posted by dammitjim
on Feb 8, 2011 -
6 answers
PoetryFilter: I am looking for the poet and title of a poem I read yesterday.
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posted by Prairie
on Feb 7, 2011 -
6 answers
Cannot remember who wrote this poem (maybe essay?) or where this line is from. The metaphor is about a hideous child trying to crawl into your lap, you keep pushing it away in dismay, the author points out that this child is your (life? your faults?) and you must accept it, invite it up into your lap, and kiss it. Who wrote this? My Google Fu has failed me.
posted by jeanmari
on Jan 19, 2011 -
3 answers
Can't remember a poem about drowning, and I think it has a mention of a "piston". Can anyone help?
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posted by asymptotic
on Jan 12, 2011 -
6 answers
Help me appreciate poetry (I suppose specifically blank verse by the examples below of what I've read) by teaching me to understand the merits of the poet's constructions! I enjoy literature because of their content, and not so much the aesthetics or specific construction of sentences, words, meter, rhyme, and so forth. For the most part, this has been fine for me because conventionally at least when one comes across poetry, its not in the manner of an epic tale and so I don't feel like I'm missing out on too much.
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posted by SollosQ
on Jan 11, 2011 -
15 answers
[Creative Writing Filter] I'm looking for some online resources to help me get back into creative writing after a three year break.
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posted by wansac
on Dec 18, 2010 -
4 answers
In the mechanics of blank verse, why do feminine endings go with eleven-syllable lines?
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posted by Paquda
on Dec 16, 2010 -
6 answers
What are some readings/stories/essays/poetry that might ease the shock of returning to "civilization" after 3 months in the wilderness?
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posted by daelin
on Dec 15, 2010 -
10 answers
I would like to read a biography of Emily Dickinson. Do you know of a well written, not too highly academic one?
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posted by kanata
on Dec 14, 2010 -
9 answers
What are the best online communities for poets? This
previous thread says that poetryslamming was pretty good, but it looks dead now. Are there any others?
posted by yaymukund
on Nov 30, 2010 -
2 answers
Specific Thanksgiving poem by a Latino author? I am trying to find a remembered poem for a professor about Thanksgiving that he remembers reading. Poem is in English, by a Latino poet, very funny, and about a young person explaining to his/her parents what Thanksgiving is/means. The prof thinks the poem was by a male author. (minor additional details below the fold)
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posted by eleanna
on Nov 24, 2010 -
8 answers
Trying to identify a line of poetry - possibly written by an Irishman - that goes something like "a face marked by a lifetime of venal sin".
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posted by Joe Beese
on Nov 23, 2010 -
5 answers
I'm suddenly very interested in stories, novels, films, music, poems, and comics/graphic narratives that take insanity, altered states of consciousness, and/or terminal illness as a primary theme. My general preference is for science fiction and speculative fiction, but suggestions from other genres would be very good as well.
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posted by gerryblog
on Nov 16, 2010 -
41 answers
My wife's twenty-something cousin is plagiarizing poems via her Facebook page. We noticed. What next?
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posted by glenngulia
on Nov 5, 2010 -
54 answers
