Goblin poetry - Work in Progress

[Simons Mith]

I've made a start on a piece of Goblin poetry with a working title of 'The Dwarven Guns':

Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom,
Boom, Boom, Boom,
Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom,

Trouble is, it loses its way a bit in the third line, and I think it needs to finish off with a bang. Any suggestions?

[thespaceinvader]

I don't think goblins woudl really write poetry to be hoenst. Maybe they'd sing marching songs, though.

[melinath]

I think goblins, as the clever little runts of the litter, are much more likely to write poetry than the pure orcs.
I hesitantly offer this as a possible final line:
Boom, Boom, Bang.
I don't know if it's what you're looking for - it might bring in too much variation at the last moment. Not to mention that it strains the limits of Goblin poetic vocabulary.

[Cloud]

I've made a start on a piece of Goblin poetry with a working title of 'The Dwarven Guns':

Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom,
Boom, Boom, Boom,
Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom,

Trouble is, it loses its way a bit in the third line, and I think it needs to finish off with a bang. Any suggestions?

Is the next word, by any chance 'Boom'?

And does your next battle plan involve a turnip?

Hmm what would a rouser shout to rouse his fellow goblins?

Perhaps:
"In touch with the ground
I'm on the hunt I'm after you
Scent and a sound. I'm lost and I'm found
And I'm hungry like the wolf."

Spoiler:

Then perhaps after the battle they gather around to watch the Girls on Film video

[Hatter_Madigan]

I think that goblins would have much to write about with all of the pent up anger they suffer through. None to release with the brothers around. But I think Trolls would have the best poetry. They seem like they would become the poetic type. I have many reasons to support my claim, but at the time I feel very lazy

[Simons Mith]

I think goblins, as the clever little runts of the litter, are much more likely to write poetry than the pure orcs.
I hesitantly offer this as a possible final line:
Boom, Boom, Bang.
I don't know if it's what you're looking for - it might bring in too much variation at the last moment. Not to mention that it strains the limits of Goblin poetic vocabulary.

Ooh! Very clever. Ending the piece with a literal as well as a metaphorical bang. I like it!

@Cloud. Er, maybe.

For my next piece I was thinking of doing a Goblin Marching Song. Spondaic dimeter again, but without the caesurae on alternate lines. It goes:

Left, right, left, right,
Left, right, left right,
Left, right, left, right,
Left, right, left, right!

Unfortunately, verses 2, 3 and 4 of this stirring piece have been lost, when the one goblin who knew them all was tragically killed when a dying wose fell on him.

[Gauteamus]

Oh, the subtle use of punctuation in that marching hymn!
Was it Oscar Wilde that, when asked what his day's work had been like, replied that he had edited a comma into a poem, then, after long and agonizing pondering, removed it again?

[Turuk]

Was it Oscar Wilde that, when asked what his day's work had been like, replied that he had edited a comma into a poem, then, after long and agonizing pondering, removed it again?

Yes it was.

For my next piece I was thinking of doing a Goblin Marching Song. Spondaic dimeter again, but without the caesurae on alternate lines. It goes:

Left, right, left, right,
Left, right, left right,
Left, right, left, right,
Left, right, left, right!

Unfortunately, verses 2, 3 and 4 of this stirring piece have been lost, when the one goblin who knew them all was tragically killed when a dying wose fell on him.

Is there a reason you are just repeating the same lines over and over? You could mix in a little humor, particularly given the death of the goblin who knew them.

Left, right, left, right,
Left, right, left right,
Left, right, left, right
Left, right ahhhhhh squish!

[jhanlon]

Goblins might have some difficulty thinking up those extra words, especially as it is likely that no goblin poetry had ever contained them before.

[Jacques_Fol]

I have to admit that I have (even if only very recently) become a great fan of Goblin poetry, and will wait with bated breath to see more added to the cannon. Surely, the richness of a goblin's life calls out for more epic depictions of what it is all about.

In that vein, the compiler of this poetry may be interested to hear that I recall once seeing a book of poems with the common title "The Mess Hall".

The most canonical of those followed the established traditional verse structure:

Food! Drink! Food! Drink!
Food! Drink! Food! Drink!
Food! Drink! Food! Drink!
Food! Drink! Food! Drink!

Then, there was one that was possibly used with a light meal:

Food! Drink! Drink!
Food! Drink! Drink!
Food! Drink! Drink!

Finally, for the most festive of occasions, the following was deemed appropriate, but was rarely recited as required:

Drink!
Arrr, food! Errr, drink!
Food! Food!
Drink drink drink!
Food! Drink! Food! Drink!
Drink drink drink!
Drrr...rrink!

Rumour had it that there were also other, more ribald versions of these songs which combined the acts of eating and drinking with the more mundane occupations usually following one or the other, bur the stories were too speculative and the verses of such songs would in any event be too blunt and vulgar to reproduce here, so I'll let it rest at that.

[Simons Mith]

Left, right, left, right,
Left, right, left right,
Left, right, left, right,
Left, right, left, right!

Unfortunately, verses 2, 3 and 4 of this stirring piece have been lost, when the one goblin who knew them all was tragically killed when a dying wose fell on him.

Is there a reason you are just repeating the same lines over and over? You could mix in a little humor, particularly given the death of the goblin who knew them.

Left, right, left, right,
Left, right, left right,
Left, right, left, right
Left, right ahhhhhh squish!

The lost verse 4! Rediscovered at last! Well done, Turuk; what a coup! Scholars will discussing this, well, probably until closing time. And maybe even after the pub has shut...

[KKSlider]

Hey, can't say that ain't deep, man. XD

[TheGreatRings]

Yeah, yeah, its funny, but I don't really like the whole "goblins are stupid" thing. Illiterate, maybe, but also cunning and crafty. Goblins especially might make more sense as highly intelligent. Wouldn't they need it to survive as smaller and physically weaker individuals in what appears to be a tribal, warlike society? Unless there's some sort of orcish cast society?

If goblins and orcs were mentally [censored] or of child-like intellect, I have doubts about their ability to wage war as successfully as they have against the elves, men, and dwarves. Even trolls are described as "cunning" in the unit descriptions, aren't they?

In any case, I'm not saying I disagree with orcs or goblins being largely illiterate. At the risk of steriotyping, their society doesn't look like one that places a high value language skills. I just don't want them portrayed as mentally [censored]/childish, or as a "comic relief" species. Wesnoth doesn't need a species of Jar Jar Binks.

[Turuk]

Given the dialogue that orcs have in campaigns, they are in no danger of being portrayed as stupid. Trolls, on the other hand, get a rough gig, but I expressed a thought towards that in another thread.

I'd prefer not to have this be a reflection of complete stupidity. I know the trolls are described as slow and simple-minded, but this could also be an indication of a race that does not put much stock in speaking, and so has never seen the need to speak rapidly or to employ more than simple words.

As to goblins, I can see them having a form of low cunning that explains their continued survival despite being smaller and weaker. Sycophancy never hurts either.

[melinath]

I also see the goblins as being fairly intelligent; however, I was under the impression from the tone of this thread that this was more an exercise in humor than an effort to define Goblin Lore.