busyThis poem came from the February 8, 2011 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by 
janetmiles.
Many of you probably know the quoted poem as "Twas the Night Before Christmas." Here I've used the author's original title.Palimpsest Candy
"A Visit from St. Nicholas"
was written in rhymed couplets
so compelling and memorable
that it soaked into the culture:
visions of sugarplums
danced in their heads
long after the children
had left Earth behind
and along with it
both sugar and plums.
February 10 2011, 14:20:57 UTC 10 years ago
~Lyn, in the wrong lj right now.
I would be more specific, but it's a small tidy poem that just pulls you right from "Visit" down to plums.
Why did you choose to use the original title rather than the better-known one?
Interesting poem title, as well.
Thank you!
February 11 2011, 02:29:47 UTC 10 years ago
That's okay. It did that for me too!
>> Why did you choose to use the original title rather than the better-known one? <<
Variously: This was the author's original intention. (Though on technical grounds, I have to count "Twas the Night Before Christmas" superior, for the same reason as "Escape" vs. "The Piña Colada Song.") I also wanted to stretch the temporal range back to the author's time: look, we've already lost the first title in common usage, people just call it by its lead because that's catchier. This way, our subjective time lies between that of the author and that of the protagonists. Plus I like the assonance in "A Visit from St. Nicholas."
>> Interesting poem title, as well. <<
Oh, that -- a palimpsest is a piece of parchment that was scraped clean of ink and reused, often repeatedly. You can treat it to retrieve different layers of ink. Language itself is a palimpsest. The "candy" just refers to the sugarplums, and assonates with "palimpsest."
<3
February 11 2011, 02:32:13 UTC 10 years ago
Language itself is a palimpsest.
<3
Yes.