[Smt-talk] Looking for bad text settings

[David Feurzeig]

There are several familiar examples of ironic or self-consciously bad scansion in Gilbert and Sullivan (as well as related examples of forced rhyme).

My favorite is the misplaced accent at the end of this quatrain from "Let's Do It" (Cole Porter):

The most refined ladybugs do it
When a gentleman calls
Moths in your rugs do it
What's the use of moth balls?


David Feurzeig
Associate Professor, Composition and Theory
University of Vermont
384 S. Prospect St.
Burlington, VT 05405
802-656-1498
dfeurzei at uvm.edu