Every time I see a Doctor Seuss parody that doesn’t respect the very strict meter that made his stuff flow so well, it’s always followed by about five minutes of me trying to fix it and then stopping because that was supposed to be the author’s responsibility. You can sneak in an extra syllable here or there, and there will be situations where it’s ambiguous based on word pronunciation, but any more than two syllables off and you should’ve workshopped it some more.
Take all of these matters most seriously
The gravest of grave should be clear
To step out of meter where any could see
Will only get side-glancing sneers
And who, then, shall patch up this unfinished road
Assembled with half-baked word stones?
'Tis not my intent but I think it’s best flowed
With a concrete from Onceler’s old bones
I’d say poor meter is in the creative realm of stick figures. its a valid shortcut to make a point or punchline. but I can understand why it bothers you
Hot take:
Every time I see a Doctor Seuss parody that doesn’t respect the very strict meter that made his stuff flow so well, it’s always followed by about five minutes of me trying to fix it and then stopping because that was supposed to be the author’s responsibility. You can sneak in an extra syllable here or there, and there will be situations where it’s ambiguous based on word pronunciation, but any more than two syllables off and you should’ve workshopped it some more.
Take all of these matters most seriously
The gravest of grave should be clear
To step out of meter where any could see
Will only get side-glancing sneers
And who, then, shall patch up this unfinished road
Assembled with half-baked word stones?
'Tis not my intent but I think it’s best flowed
With a concrete from Onceler’s old bones
I’d say poor meter is in the creative realm of stick figures. its a valid shortcut to make a point or punchline. but I can understand why it bothers you
Very well put, better than I could have said it myself