Editing Doggerel

 

This sign is from Whitesbog, but I saw one with the same sentiment in Beach Lake, Pennsylvania, so I suppose it is fairly common wherever outdoor weddings are held. I first noticed the sign this summer leaning up again one of the buildings in Whitesbog Village and whenever I'd see it the last few months, I'd notice that something about it nagged at me. Today I realized what it was: The meter is off.

This little piece of doggerel is written in, harkening back to my English major days, dactylic trimeter, which is one stressed beat followed by two unstressed beats:

Pick a seat

Not a side

You are loved

by the

Groom and Bride

The fourth line is missing a beat, a word. The meter would be filled out by "both."

by both the

It's a little thing (maybe) but it's the kind of thing that bothers me because it seems obvious (and easily fixed) and yet is wrong in at least two places more than 100 miles apart. And "both" would also make the verse stronger by emphasizing the unity of the Groom and Bride. The kind of things I worry about when the birding is slow:

Of doggerel

I am no fan.

At least I know

It has to scan.