Brag Poem

So we’re leaving poetry month fast behind us. (Sniff, dabdab) Today’s is the second to last form and it’s the brag poem, or the flyting, if you prefer the Scottish name. It’s a rap battle between poets, with each rhyme-maker spitting insults at the other. Sounds a lot like a rap-battle, doesn’t it? Well the rap battle does have its roots in verbal contests such as these. Several cultures have a version of the flyting, Germanic, Inuit, Japanese, Arabic, they all have culturally unique ways of playing with words to insult people. Pretty cool huh?

The most often cited flyting is the “The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy” http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/TEAMS/duntxt4.htm#P83. It’s written in old Scots so a read aloud might be easier than quietly to yourself, kind of like with Middle English, it never makes sense when you read it, but read it out loud and suddenly its real words. Crazy.

So I realize it’s a little late in the game, but I have a question for the readers. Again. I was going to switch in May and start blogging on gardening, but I’m having so much fun with poetry that it might be fun to stick with that another month. Let’s hear from you, would you rather learn about gardening the black-thumb way or keep on with the word candy? Drop a comment and I look forward to hearing from you.