Gratuitous Quoting

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Gratuitous Quoting

... found myself at the park the other day ... on the swings ... i said to the person i was with:

"is it usually sick on a swing?" ... the person looked blank ... "oh tell me the truth about love," i said ...

it made perfect sense to me ... it comes from the auden poem i will post below ... i always make the connection between swings and this poem ...

i was wondering if any other of you e-goer whoccy talers have any such examples of Habitual and/or Gratuitous Quoting?

XII.
Some say that love's a little boy,
And some say it's a bird,
Some say it makes the world round,
And some say that's absurd,
And when I asked the man next-door,
Who looked as if he knew,
His wife got very cross indeed,
And said it wouldn't do.

Does it look like a pair of pyjamas,
Or the ham in a temperance hotel?
Does its odour remind one of llamas,
Or has it a comforting smell?
Is it prickly to touch as a hedge is,
Or soft as eiderdown fluff?
Is it sharp or quite smooth at the edges?
O tell me the truth about love.

Our history books refer to it
In cryptic little notes,
It's quite a common topic on
The Transatlantic boats;
I've found the subject mentioned in
Accounts of suicides,
And even seen it scribbled on
The backs of railway-guides.

Does it howl like a hungry Alsatian,
Or boom like a military band?
Could one give a first-rate imitation
On a saw or a Steinway Grand?
Is its singing at parties a riot?
Does it only like classical stuff?
Does it stop when one wants to quiet?
O tell me the truth about love.

I looked inside the summer-house;
It wasn't ever there:
I tried the Thames at Maidenhead,
And Brighton's bracing air.
I don't know what the blackbird sang,
Or what the tulip said;
But it wasn' in the chicken-run,
Or underneath the bed.

Can it pull extraordinary faces?
Is it usually sick on a swing?
Does it spend all its time at the races,
Or fiddling with pieces of string?
Has it views of its own about money?
Does it think Patriotism enough?
Are its stories vulgar but funny?
O tell me the truth about love.

When it comes, will it come without warning
Just as I'm picking my nose?
Will it knock on the door in the morning,
Or tread in the bus on my toes?
Will it come like a change in the weather?
Will its greeting be courteous or rough?
Will it alter my life altogether?
O tell me the truth about love.

w.h. auden

obscure humour fan
Anonymous's picture
yes, I often get blank looks by uttering odditties that have stuck in my small brain. can't quote any though...... they tend to disappear until someone says the key word or something triggers me off. ob
Primate
Anonymous's picture
I tend to quote Alan Partridge at relevant moments, but then I'm just odd :) You gave me a bit of a flashback moment there Fish with that Auden poem - I had to read that out at my best friend's wedding. One of the scariest moments in my life! Nice poem though...
John L
Anonymous's picture
There's nothing odd about quoting Alan Partridge, (Pri)mate . . . . Of that, there is no doubt. Ah, ah! Sorry to be both so trite, unoriginal and conceited all at the same time but I can't ever pass through customs without having to fight off the urge to say: 'I have nothing to declare but my genius.' Strangely enough in a kind of Alan Partridge voice if you can imagine such a thing. I wonder how many times the average customs officer has heard this? Almost as many times, I guess, as he's heard: 'What's in your hand luggage, sir?' 'Nothing much. Just a couple of lbs of Semtex.' Can never look at a pretty young girl on a bike without thinking: 'Trace me your wheel tracks, you fortunate bicycle' (Betjeman - Myfanwy) For some reason this is more evocative on a sunny day and most evocative of all if the girl happens to be riding her bike along the path through The Dingle, Severn riverside, Shrewsbury. It makes me feel happy and sad all at the same time. 'Wistful' is the word I'm looking for, I think. Aah, there it is. Come here 'wistful' I've been looking all over for you. I once tried to engage a girl in conversation with the opening line: 'Alone and palely loitering' but it met with no response other than a slightly scared 'are you the madman' look. As it happens I know this is a quote from something or another but I haven't got the foggiest idea from where, exactly. Anybody know? Right now I'm very keen on saying 'Life is Elsewhere' at any and every opportunity. For what it's worth 'my' answer to Auden's eternal question is: Love is either madness or nothing at all (gratuitous quote from aforementioned Life is Elsewhere) Having said that I reckon 'the truth about love' is the world's best ever oxymoron.
robert
Anonymous's picture
"alone and palely loitering" rang a bell [i'm reading hundreds of poems to make up for lost time], so i've just looked it up. it's by keats, a poem that starts O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms, Alone and palely loitering? incidentally, later in the same poem is the line She took me to her elfin grot mmmmm
John L
Anonymous's picture
'Elfin', hey Robert. 'Elfin' I like. All my favourite girls have been kind of 'elfin'. If she's 'elfin' I will go willingly with her to her 'grot', believe me. Cheers, mate.
Tom Saunders
Anonymous's picture
La Belle Dame Sans Merci by Keats as far as the palely loitering quote is concerned. "They @!#$ you up your mum and dad," is a favourite of mine, though far from original. Kind of crops up as relevant in all sorts of conversations.
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