Esemplastic – Wordplay Wednesday™ 11/25/2020

Success is Finding a Way to Make Life Work 

We’ve always been advised, you can’t fit a square peg into a round hole. Any two-year-old can tell you, you’re wasting your time … it’ll never work … don’t beat your head against the proverbial wall trying.

But in literature and life, surprise yourself … with a little effort, anything is possible …

ESEMPLASTIC (,e-,sem-ʹplas-tik; 1817) adj. – shaping or having the power to shape disparate things into a unified whole <the ~~ power of the poetic imagination –W.H. Gardner>. [WW #296]

And who, pray tell, is W.H. Gardner? Apparently, a notable contemporary editor for the Victorian-era poetic works of Gerard Manley Hopkins. Why an editor of works deserves a mention in the dictionary, I don’t know, but they must have their reasons. Hopkins however, is the one who brought his esemplastic verses to life.

Put it to work, as did Hopkins:

He wraps together your image of God, the shine of foil, sticky drip of oil … all to offer hope of God’s enduring power? Your interpretation is as good as mine, but his use of dissimilar thoughts coming to a point is intriguing.

Although generally applied to poetic verse, esemplastic could be versatile enough to unify a cast of fiction characters (think Friends) or describe a melding of any seductively contrasting theories. Or imagine your own use for esemplastic that gathers and molds its subjects into submission for consideration.

Are you able to gather family and/or friends—personally or virtually—around a Thanksgiving table? In theory, Thanksgiving is esemplastic! We each represent our own concepts, so in coming together, we form an esemplastic unit of minds. Explore them and enjoy!

Word Challenge: ESEMPLASTIC. Satisfaction is when you bring things together and make them fit. Know that ingenuity holds no bounds, as you fit esemplastic into your week of imaginative writings and clever conversations.

Learning knows no prejudices or boundaries, and it isn’t fattening! Expanding your mind is a no-cost, simple joy. Do you feel that way too? What’s your inspiration? Share your creative genius and Wordplay Wednesday comments below.

Write first for yourself … only then can you write for others. (L.Rochelle) 

Cheers to learning a new word today & Happy Thanksgiving!

@PenchantForPen
@Irishwriter

[LinDee Rochelle is a writer and editor by trade, and an author by way of Rock & Roll. She has published two books in her Blast from Your Past series (of three) about pioneering R&R Radio DJs. True behind-the-mic tales make GREAT Holiday and anytime Gifts available on Amazon (eBook and print): Book 1 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The First Five Years 1954-1959; and Book 2 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties. Coming soon … The Psychedelic Seventies!]

*LR Notes: 1) Dictionary definitions are quoted from Webster’s New World College Dictionary. Yes, we sometimes present them out of “official” context—but that’s half the fun! Think of it as “creative context.” 2) a] Recent dictionary additions to definitions include a date of first use, if known; b] words in small caps indicate “see also.” 3) Neither I (LinDee Rochelle) nor Penchant for Penning are responsible for how you use information found here, that may result in legal action.

E-N-Dzzzzzzzz  

 

Poetaster – Wordplay Wednesday™ 09/16/2020

Forget-Me-Not Flowers for Forgotten Promise 

My apology, readers, for not following through on my pledge of September 9^th’s Wordplay Wednesday that promised a follow-up word to the poesy / posy fiasco.

Please accept a posy of Forget-Me-Nots for becoming distracted last week by the “golden-ager” affront which caused me to forget to regale you with another inane poetry definition. Here ya go …

POETASTER (ʹpō-ɘ-,tas-tɘr; 1599) n. – an inferior poet. [WW #286] 

Seriously? In whose opinion? It isn’t like we follow hard-and-fast rules about anything anymore; so who’s to say what is good poetry, or who is inferior in their creation of it? The word itself is odd—is poetaster meant to imply a person who is only “tasting” the experience without any real knowledge of crafting it?

Coleridge 1772-1834 Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Worry not, budding poets, we have another dictionary term that can soften the critics’ vitriol: “poetic license.”

Like it or not, poetaster has a place in the dictionary and could fit well into your novel or nonfiction work. Perhaps in the dialogue of an odiously opinionated bard, “What gave that poetaster the idea he can create a poetic work of art?”

Or educationally exploring subjective words like poetaster, and their place in your vocabulary.

 

Word Challenge: POETASTER. In my humble opinion, anyone who takes time, meditation, and energy into putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard with original thoughts in poetic verse, deserves better than poetaster. Create a place for a poetaster in your week of justifiable writings and clever conversations.

Learning knows no prejudices or boundaries, and it isn’t fattening! Expanding your mind is a no-cost, simple joy. Do you feel that way too? What’s your inspiration? Share your creative genius and Wordplay Wednesday comments below.

Write first for yourself … only then can you write for others. (L.Rochelle) 

Cheers to learning a new word today!

@PenchantForPen

@Irishwriter

[LinDee Rochelle is a writer and editor by trade, and an author by way of Rock & Roll. She has published two books in her Blast from Your Past series (of three) about pioneering R&R Radio DJs. True behind-the-mic tales make GREAT Holiday and anytime Gifts available on Amazon (eBook and print): Book 1 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The First Five Years 1954-1959; and Book 2 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties. Coming soon … The Psychedelic Seventies!]

*LR Notes: 1) Dictionary definitions are quoted from Webster’s New World College Dictionary. Yes, we sometimes present them out of “official” context—but that’s half the fun! Think of it as “creative context.” 2) a] Recent dictionary additions to definitions include a date of first use, if known; b] words in small caps indicate “see also.” 3) Neither I (LinDee Rochelle) nor Penchant for Penning are responsible for how you use information found here, that may result in legal action.

E-N-Dzzzzzzzz