Alison worked with the team both from her home and visiting the team in London. Alison suggested a Cento - which, in essence, is a 'mash-up' of lines from other poems compiled together to make a new poem. The poem included lines from Alison as well as several other poets; John Keats, Arthur O'Shaughnessy, James Elroy Flecker, Walter Savage Landor, Pecry Bysshe Shelley and Alfred Lord Tennyson.
The finished Cento is:
Much have I travelled in the realms of gold,
And many goodly states and kingdoms seen,
But still I long to learn tales, marvellous tales,
Of ships and stars and isles where good men rest,
How others fought to forge my world.
What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape? What wild ecstasy?
We are the music-makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Step forward,
To feel the blood run through the veins and tingle
Where busy thought and blind sensation mingle.
Come, my friends, 'tis not too late,
For we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems;
To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield.
You can read an exclusive blog by Alison Chisholm at the BBC -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/
You can view the 'Celebrating BBC Two' advert on You Tube - http://youtu.be/cQqLRw8Ja6s - we are sure you'll enjoy it, it's beautifully done and we're very pleased to have been a tiny part of it!
You can find out more about Alison Chisholm at Book a Poet!
You can find out more about Alison Chisholm at Book a Poet!
Wonderful words put together beautifully but who is reading the words?
ReplyDeleteThe voice over is by Peter Capaldi :)
DeleteI don't know, but I will see if I can find out for you! Thank you :)
ReplyDeleteThe voice over is by Peter Capaldi :)
ReplyDeleteI searched high and wide, emailed the bbc and asked friends on my blog, but answer came there none. I managed to identify the O'Shaughnessy and the Tennyson for myself, and printed out the full poems. Then I was directed here by a question in the Radio Times "You Ask Us" column. Now I can go search out the originals!
ReplyDeleteI have occasionally written cento poems, but always feel slightly uncomfortable about stealing other poets' work. The fabulous success of your cento makes me look at it differently. I may write more. Thank you.
http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com
Hi Viv, thanks for your message - I thought this might help you and save you some time! Here is the CENTO - with all lines attributed, as created by Alison Chisholm:
DeleteMuch have I travelled in the realms of gold,
And many goodly states and kingdoms seen,
(John Keats - On First Looking into Chapman's Homer)
But still
(Edwin Arlington Robinson - Richard Cory)
I long to learn
(G. R. S. Mead's translation of The Corpus Hermeticum)
tales, marvellous tales
Of ships and stars and isles where good men rest,
(James Elroy Flecker - The Golden Road to Samarkand)
Of fellow travellers
(Francis Warre Cornish's translation of Catullus, Carmina 46)
and the world's expectation.
(William Shakespeare - Venus and Adonis)
What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape? What wild ecstasy?
(John Keats - Ode on a Grecian Urn)
We are the music-makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
(Arthur William Edgar O'Shaughnessy - We Are the Music-Makers)
Step forward
(Walter Savage Landor - Interlude)
To feel the blood run through the veins and tingle
Where busy thought and blind sensation mingle.
(Percy Bysshe Shelley - Fragment)
Come, my friends, 'tis not too late,
(Alfred, Lord Tennyson - Ulysses)
For we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems;
(Arthur William Edgar O'Shaughnessy - We Are the Music-Makers)
To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield.
(Alfred, Lord Tennyson - Ulysses)
Plus ...
Historical note:
The earliest centos date from the fourth century AD, and were based on Latin poems, often the work of Virgil.
Definitions from books:
CENTO
A poem made up from passages from poems by one or more authors; a patchwork of quotations; a literary collage; a pastiche (in the sense of being a mixture of poetic excerpts.)
The Poetry Dictionary - John Drury
CENTO
A literary composition, especially a poem, of lines or parts from the writings of established authors, and with a meaning and message different from the original.
The Reader's Encyclopedia - William Rose Benet
On-line definitions:
Poetic Form: Cento
From the Latin word for "patchwork," the cento (or collage poem) is a poetic form made up of lines from poems by other poets. Though poets often borrow lines from other writers and mix them in with their own, a true cento is composed entirely of lines from other sources. Early examples can be found in the work of Homer and Virgil. (website - The Academy of American Poets)
CENTO
A poem consisting only of lines from other poems. This, from the Italian word for patchwork, is almost a technique rather than a form, especially as it can be of any length, and any metre, and need not rhyme; however, as the finished poem is referred to as a cento, just as a sonnet is called a sonnet, it is a form.
(website - The Poetry Archive)
Does anybody recognise the man with the beard at 0.46 in the video? It's really annoying i can't remember who he is!
ReplyDeleteIt's Terry Pratchett, the author.
DeleteIts Terry Pratchett, author of the disc world books and campaigner for assisted dying for the terminally ill.
ReplyDeleteTerry pratchet
ReplyDeleteHave you figured out what the advert is about yet.SShhhh? It truely is the DREAM of dreams.Peace xx...
ReplyDelete