I hear the sounds but cannot convey
Is that a screech, a bleep, a tweek?
I ask around hopefully- "What exactly does the fox say?"
No one knows or no one can speak,
Even Google has held her peace,
Yet, there must be a sound that we cannot convey.
I toss and turn at night, and though I hear my bed squeak-
I worry about this question- I will continue to seek
I resume my search- "What does the fox say?"
Maybe Dora can help, since she knows he's discreet,
But Swiper is honest to being a sneak.
We hear his voice but the sound we cannot convey.
Republican or not, perhaps the media has some information to leak,
Fox News- you lost your chance to avoid critique.
I am alone in my quest for "What does the fox say?"
I have reached my wits and change my technique-
I ask the fox himself, still knowing the odds are bleak.
I hear a response, but I cannot convey
"What exactly does the fox say?"
*This line and the general idea of this poem is inspired by the song "What Does the Fox Say?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jofNR_WkoCE
This poem was so clever! I'm so impressed with how you took a silly song like "What Does the Fox Say?" and turned it into a witty poem. I especially liked the references to Dora the Explorer and Fox News on your quest to find out what exactly the fox says. I also think the content was great for a villanelle poem because Professor Miller mentioned that villanelle poems tend to have to do with obsession, and the speaker is clearly obsessed with the fox. My only suggestion would be to removed "Republic or not" from the fifth stanza- I feel like the rest of the sentence would sound better on its own. Other than that, loved the style of this poem! -Abigail Adler
ReplyDeleteI liked how you took a silly song as your inspiration for different versions of “fox.” It is very clever. I also found it interesting that although you did keep with the form of a villanelle each of the repeated lines is tweaked slightly but still reads the same. I am not sure if this still fits with the form but it works in this case! very cool!
ReplyDeleteThis poem was so cute. I love that you brought in Dora and Fox News, very clever. I'm not sure if this poem was meant to be funny or not, but I liked how serious some of the wording was. The reader really feels like she is on a mission to figure out "what the fox says." One critique I would give is referring to the fifth stanza. The last line does not seem to flow. Maybe you can change "in my quest for" to something along the lines of "I am alone in determining..." I also agree with what was stated above. The line in the fifth stanza would sound better if "republic or not" was taken out. Great job!!
ReplyDeleteHi! I am curious as to why you thought I should change "I am alone in my quest.." I thought it made it more dramatic! I did change in accordance with your other suggestions (in a separate updated post). Thanks for your help!
DeleteThis poem is super cool and super creative! I like the way you use very descriptive sounds throughout the poem. The whole idea of the poem, based on what the fox say is very cute because you never think about that but you were able to develop that question into an entire poem,,,,bravo! The different cultural references are also cute-you appeal to the childhood social piece of dora and the more sophisticated fox news. I would maybe try and play with the words continue and resume in the third stanza, its a bit redundant. Amazing job!
ReplyDeleteI must say, I really enjoyed reading this. The imagery really helped me picture the scenes in my mind. One thing I wasn't sure about was whether "the fox" is a metaphor for something else, or if this is really meant to be the cute silly poem it is. At first i thought it was just being silly, until I got to the stanza about fox new.. It got me thinking that the fox is really some issue that your looking to solve, but no one knows how.. I'm not sure if this was ur intention or not, but if not, maybe making that stanza more like a pun would help not confuse the reader. Other than this, really good job!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Nahal! I changed the "Fox News" line to make the line seem more "playful," so thanks for pointing that out to me! (posted in a new updated post). In regard to your question about the meaning of the poem, that's for the readers to decide!! ;)
DeleteGreat job! I was impressed how you were able to take a seemingly simple and funny song, and write about it so cleverly. You convey well that you have exhausted all methods to find out "what does the fox say?" Great references to Dora and Fox.
ReplyDeleteMy only slight complaint is that I found it a tiny bit repetitive, but this may have been your intent to achieve the obsessive tone.
I thought this was a very clever play on words with "what does the fox say". I liked the references to media and pop culture as well. I thought it was an interesting use as a villanelle, because this poem had humor and typically the structure of a villanelle is better for more dramatic and darker ideas, but you managed to make it work here. The only thing I would say is that maybe giving more of an introduction to the idea of the media might help readers understand what the poem is about more easily.
ReplyDelete