Politically Correctness

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Nammy
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Post by Nammy »

I have a suggestion for a great old poem that probably came from my grandmother who went to school in the 1880's. My dad recited this poem to us many times over the years. I so hate to see it lost because it probably now isn't politically correct! It was at the time so what are the rules for that?

The reason I ask is that the name of the poem is "Two Gay Young Frogs" who were just very happy after a night of drinking! I guess frogs don't get hangovers. Who knew?

Would it be possible to preserve our history by including this poem somewhere? I have no idea who wrote it. I have found it on the internet once, and it is so cute with a great moral! This type of poetry is lost today, and it saddens me.

In the olden days, (don't ask how I know) we (some people) had to learn poems at school. Can we preserve that or are people too sensitive to use the word gay in its old form?

I found a link for it. It's been around more than 50 years for sure so there shouldn't be any copywrite issues if there is such a thing. I'm too new to know these things.

https://meditationsandmemories.blogspot.com/2009/07/keep-kicking.html

If you read the posts on that site, you'll see it obviously was very popular at one time. I love this poem!

Sorry for saying too much and being a pain in the butt. I just had to ask. Like my friend used to say after years on her computer, "I'm still learnin'"! I'm not sure about that punctuation. :lol:
Some people think holding on is tough; sometimes it's letting go.
Availle
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Post by Availle »

We don't care for political correctness - at least not in the texts we read.
We do not censor any texts outright and we read them as the author has written them.

The only problem with your poem is that the source is not admissible. We need something - preferably a scan online - that clearly states the publication date. If the publication date was at least 95 years ago (1926 at the moment), then you're good to go.
Cheers, Ava.
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Kitty
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Post by Kitty »

Hello Carol

I think I found your poem in this scan of an 1894 magazine "Newberry News". This version would be usable for LV, so I hope it's the one you remember. It's called "A Tale of Hard Times", though, but it starts with the same line. It states the author as U. S. Baker...couldn't find anything about him though.

https://digmichnews.cmich.edu/?a=d&d=LuceNN18940817-01.1.8&srpos=1&e=-------en-10--1--txt-txIN-frogs-------LuceNN18940817%252D01--

I hope the link works like this :? It's on page 8 in the third column.

And to answer your original question: the original meaning of "gay" in old texts simply meant "happy", "jolly". It's only later that the word experienced a meaning shift, so the word as such is not offensive at all. Especially in our old public domain texts, people are often gay and there is no reason to get offended by this. ;) These two frogs in your story were simply happy young lads enjoying life and a good drink, regardless of their sexual orientation. I think that wasn't an issue back then. Sometimes it's best not to overthink things.

Oh and I best move this thread to "Discussions" as it's not "off topic" for LV. This can be valuable information for other LV volunteers as well.

Sonia
I will be on vacation from Wednesday 27 March till Sunday 14 April
and unable to PL during that time. Thank you for your patience.
Nammy
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Post by Nammy »

That is the poem exactly! How my dad remembered all of that his whole life is way beyond me! His mother (Nammy) was the same way, so they probably recited them often and never forgot. Even though, I've heard him recite many times, I can't remember all of it.

I absolutely love this poem! How anyone came up with all those wonderful words, I'll never know. I think it's perfect! The moral shall always be relevant.

Thanks so much for spending your time to find it! It means a lot to mean, and I'd love for it to live on forever.

Carol/Nammy :thumbs:
Some people think holding on is tough; sometimes it's letting go.
TriciaG
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Post by TriciaG »

So, are you going to record it for the Short Poetry Collection? 8-)
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
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Kitty
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Post by Kitty »

Nammy wrote: March 20th, 2022, 3:16 pmI absolutely love this poem! How anyone came up with all those wonderful words, I'll never know. I think it's perfect! The moral shall always be relevant.
yes I read it all and you're right, I love the moral too. 8-) You should definitely record it for LV. Since you have such a strong bond to it, you will do it justice I'm sure. As Tricia said in her previous post, the Monthly Poetry Collection would be the perfect home for it.

Glad I could help. :)

Sonia
I will be on vacation from Wednesday 27 March till Sunday 14 April
and unable to PL during that time. Thank you for your patience.
Nammy
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Post by Nammy »

This poem should definitely be a part of LibriVox now that I know it is OK to do so. My first thought was to do it better by having one of the strong male voices do it. However, you gals seem to think that I should do it. My father would probably like that! I'm sure he'll be listening and smiling down on me!

He passed in 1988, and I still cry when I think of what a great human being/husband/father/grandfather he was! I am so blessed to have so many good memories of him.

The only bad ones are of his horrible suffering with cancer for such a long time. It has broken my heart to a point, that it has yet to heal and understand. Someday I'll understand it all, and I know his reward now is great!

I've never done this before so it will be yet another learning experience for me! I'm not sure just when I'll get to it because I have another assignment that should come first. I've been trying to do them in the order of assignment.

OK, now I'm going to be two gay young frogs! *ribbit* I'm a survivor so it is fitting to me in that sense also. Thanks, ladies, for all your help. Stand by for questions! :9:
Some people think holding on is tough; sometimes it's letting go.
Nammy
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Post by Nammy »

I have recorded "A Tale of Hard Times" the poem that we talked about. I've never done poetry before so I'm very unsure that I did everything right. I read the instructions for doing poetry so I hope I got it right the first time. If I didn't, it's a short, easy fix.

Before I upload it, I was wondering what MC name I should use. Since it doesn't have a MW, I'm kind of stumped on where to put it. I don't want to hand it over to someone that doesn't want it or wonders where it came from and why it's there!

What other information do I need? I said the author is unknown and put in the Librivox disclaimer, my name, date and town, and the end! I'll also include the time as usual. Do I need a link to the actual poem? I read that somewhere, but was totally confused. :help:

Thanks all,
Carol/Nammy
Some people think holding on is tough; sometimes it's letting go.
TriciaG
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Post by TriciaG »

What? It's got a MW. It's down towards the bottom: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=91668

The upload instructions are item #6. The MC is Rapunzelina. :)

I assume you read it from the scan linked earlier in this thread:
https://digmichnews.cmich.edu/?a=d&d=LuceNN18940817-01.1.8&srpos=1&e=-------en-10--1--txt-txIN-frogs-------LuceNN18940817%252D01--
That's what you'd use as the text link.

Instructions on what to post are also in item #6 in the first post of the project. (And the file naming instructions are #5.)
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
Humor: My Lady Nicotine
Nammy
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Post by Nammy »

Yes, I recorded that poem several weeks ago. Maybe I didn't follow procedure, but I didn't see your last post. I just somehow recorded it, and it's listed on my page, I'm pretty sure because I posted the link to my facebook friends!

I get more confused every day! :help:


Thanks for trying to help this dumb dumb! :lol:

Carol
Some people think holding on is tough; sometimes it's letting go.
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