The Forlorn Sea
Our Princess marriedA fairy King,It was a sensationalWedding.Now they live in a palaceOf porphyry,Far, far awayBy the fòrlorn sea.Sometimes people visit them,Last week they invited me;That is how I can tell youThey live by a fòrlorn sea.(They said: Here's a magic carpet,Come on this,And when you arriveWe will give you a big kiss.)I play in the palace garden,I climb the sycamore tree,Sometimes I swimIn the fòrlorn sea.The King and the Princess are shadowy,Yet beautifulThey are waited on by white cats,Who are dutiful.It is like a dreamWhen they kiss and cuddle me,But I like it, I like it,I do not wish to break free.So I eat all they give meBecause I have readIf you eat fairy foodYou will never wake up in your own bed,But will go on living,As has happened to me,Far, far awayBy a fòrlorn sea.
-Stevie Smith
Stevie Smith (1902-1971) is a favorite of mine, especially the poetry. Her sketches (as above) are fun, too.
Why is there a grave accent over the o in 'the fòrlorn sea?' Who knows? But it works somehow...
At a guess, it's a length or stress sign rather than a grave accent.
ReplyDeleteGood thought! Maybe so. I was taking it as just evocative. I pronounce forlorn nearly as a spondee (American) probably the way she wants it pronounced, but acc to Forvo, a Brit puts more emphasis on the second syllable, which makes sense in reading Keats, e.g.: 'in fairy lands forlorn.'
Deleteor - more Keats - "Forlorn! the very word is like a bell." which really stresses the second syllable.
DeleteIt's unusual in that most two-syllable words have the stress on the first syllable, where - in England, at least - "forlorn" emphasises the second. I wondered about the accent though - Hopkins used an acute accent to show stress, but a grave accent is often used in words ending --ed which are usually pronounced as one syllable - "ducked" versus "duckèd" or "The Blessèd Damozel" (who would care about "The Blessed Damozel"?), so it probably could have the same effect.
I'm sure you're right she's thinking of something like blessèd. In that case the grave gives it a sound without making actually an accented syllable. She wants to give it weight without making it the accented syllable. I pronounce forlorn with the slightest of accents on the second syllable--and the Forvo American example sounds pretty much the same as I do, so I'm not just weird... ;-)--and that's probably what she wants.
DeleteFun poem! :)
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it!
DeleteCharming!
ReplyDeleteShe is a lot of fun.
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