Pi + "The Raven" + AANVVV = ???
Constrained writing strikes again. In December 1995, I had already written Near A Raven , a revised version of Edgar Allen Poe's poem The Raven that, while attempting to remain as close as possible to the story, meter, rhyme scheme, and tone of the original, also satisfies the rather onerous condition that the lengths of the successive words in the poem are precisely the first 740 decimals of the number pi.
Then, I discovered the newsgroup alt.adjective.noun.verb.verb.verb (AANVVV for short). This amazing newsgroup (inspired by the existence of newsgroup names of the form alt.adjective.noun.verb.verb.verb, such as alt.swedish.chef.bork.bork.bork and alt.barney.dinosaur.die.die.die, to name a few) is devoted entirely to a peculiar form of constrained writing, in which every "sentence" of every post to the newsgroup is required to be of the form alt.adjective.noun.verb.verb.verb (including, for completeness, the initial "alt" and the dots). One common type of post is to rewrite some well-known piece of literature (e.g., Hamlet's soliloquy, Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky, even the Monty Python dead parrot sketch!) in this form.
So, it didn't take long for me to have the following scary thought. Would it be possible to do everything I had done in Near A Raven (i.e., rewrite "The Raven" and make it a pi mnemonic) and also obey the AANVVV constraint?!
Well, I've done it, and here is the result. Since it is basically impossible to worry about meter and rhyme scheme with a constraint so hard, this meant that two of the constraints in Near A Raven were removed, so even adding the difficult AANVVV constraint made this task only modestly harder (as opposed to much harder) than Near A Raven. The careful reader will notice that in Near A Raven I chose to drop the fifth line of each six-line stanza (for reasons explained on this page), whereas in this case I decided to keep it.
The rules for extracting pi from this poem are the same as in Near A Raven. A word of N letters represents the digit N if N<9, the digit 0 if N=10, and two adjacent digits of N>10 (e.g., a 12-letter words represents the digit '1' followed by '2'). The "alt" in each line is, of course, ignored. The title is included in the enumeration ("Poe" is the first 3 in pi, followed by "versifications" = 14, and so on).
alt.Poe.versifications.experimentalize!.AANVVVize!.do!
alt.dreary.night.was.abode.remained
alt.forgotten.volumes.discarded.put-by.sat
alt.restless.naps.shaken-up.broken-thus.put-out
alt.annoying."tap-ap".shocked.surprised.heard
alt.disturbing-my-antedoor.traveler?.said.contradistinguished.queried
alt.incontrovertible.emptiness.was.continued.persisted
alt.icy.tempest.raged.O-remembered!.cried
alt.internal-to-fireplaces.phantasms.pranced.flew.bedeviled
"alt.lost.soul.comes?.petitions?.is?
alt.old.sweetheart.returns?.enlivens?.supernaturalizes?
alt.near-impeccable.Lenore.is-striking?.knocks?.is-entreating?"
alt.alarming.stillness.continued.remained.lurked
alt.my.curtains.fluctuated.did-wave.trembled
alt.my.being.did-fear.so-capitulated.wavered
alt.comforting.notion.arrived.refreshed.relieved
"alt.so-unaccommodated.traveler.interferes.entreats.knocks
alt.hoary.philosophizer.is-visiting.(is-all!).intercedes
alt.simple.matter!".said.uttered.pronounced
alt.unsettled.ego.enlarged.grew.rose
alt.silent.apparition.perplexed.tried.vexed.
"alt.charitable.madam.inquires?.is?.is?
alt.new.reinterpretations.be-right?.are-wrong?.misinform?
alt.mute.apparition.announce!.characterize!.proclaim!"
alt.airy.darkness.intensified.reinterpenetrated.drew-close
alt.surrounded-by-darkness-then.I.questioned-it.queried.petitioned
alt.a.nightmare.did-encroach.shook-me.intimidated
alt.unnameable.dread.waxed-great.increased.stayed
"alt.most-pure.Lenore.is-at-threshold?".said.inquired
alt.enigmatic.quiet.awed.terrified.did-disappoint
"alt.her.presence.a-troubling?".spoken.said
alt.wary.id.faltered.dithered.a-frightened
alt.continued.rapping.heard.heeded.marked
alt.hasty.deduction."it's-she.taps.hits-window"
"alt.discomfiting.quandary.will-explore.would-settle.will-decipher"
alt.my.ear.did-examine.listened.paused
alt.blowing.blizzard.was-a-raging.shook-my-windows.disappointed
alt.determined.I.uncovered.unfastened.unlatched
alt.indecipherable.raven.landed.came.alighted
alt.black.talons.rested.assembled-on.sat-down
alt.damned.interloper.saw.eyed.observed
alt.amused.I.maintained."will-pause"."will-sit"
alt.my.caller.nested.held.remained
alt.my.mystification.was.continued.was
alt.raven's.expression.bemused.so-chafed.confounded
alt.my.wish.proceeded.particularized.interpolated:
"alt.surname.tag.declare.do-tell.speak!"
alt.haunting.visitor.maintained.vacationed.rested
alt.dreary."nevermores".voiced.did-supernaturalize.spoke
alt.vexating.creature.intercommunicated.said.ne'ermor'd
alt.troubled.I.stood-by.considered.marvelled
alt.so-intriguing.blackbird.looked-on.remained-by.continued-on
alt.front.door.disquieted.unsettled.a-twisted
alt.a.raven.sat.looked.said
alt.his.chorus.related.repeated.reuttered
alt.my.raven.reflected.recognized.saw
alt.lonely."nevermores".reiterated.intensified.did-say
alt.lugubrious.theme.was.discharged.spoke
"alt.grim.creature.continue-on!.emancipate!.flee!
alt.dismal.friend.float-on!.dematerialize!.withdraw!"
alt.vain.intercommunion.spoken.expressed.heard
alt.a.sentiment.rose.interpenetrated.promulgated
"alt.raven's.proprietor.struggled.bled.did-die?
alt.perceptive.raven.watched-it.noticed.empathized?
alt.sad.fellow.weeps.grieves.wails
alt.sorrowful.raven.remembers.a-struggles.longs!"
alt.sad."nevermores".continued-on.constitutionalized.pained
alt.cheerlessly-visaged.one.ascended.uncompartmentalized.sat
alt.an.answer.supplicated.desired.entreated
alt.how.I.speculated.gaped.conjectured
alt.ungainly.raven.awed.troubled.interfered
alt.ghastly.bird.laid.looked-on.sat
alt.croaked."nevermore".mystified.stayed-on.puzzled
"alt.kind.inamorata.waned.lapsed.expired!
alt.yet-heavy.I.continue.languish.mourn
alt.Lenore's.charm.is-missing.is-gone.agonizes
alt.exceeding.hopelessness.is.remains.perplexes
alt.oft-yearning.I.remember.cry.supplicate!"
alt.impertinent."nevermore".said.resonated.soliloquized
alt."enigmatic.telepath!.(did-say.voiced.uttered)
alt.shy.one.attend-me!.heed!.hark!
alt.satisfying.answer.grant.bestow.render
alt.hop'd-for.liberation.conceive?.create?.experience?
alt.my.misadventures.terminate?".said.expressed
alt.void.answer.was.persisted.vexed
alt.my.id.rose.mounted.was-angered
alt.a.challenge.originated.emerged.persevered-on
"alt.a.respite.propagate!.bequeath!.confer!
alt.continuous.teardrops.wipe!.dry!.receive!
alt.melancholy.me!.relieve!.relieve!.sympathize!"
alt.bird's.cry.continued-on.overanaesthetized.overanathematized
alt.placid.it.inspected.sat.a-flitted
alt.devil's.prophet.gazed-on.sat.tortured
alt.much.sorrow.floated.came.remained
alt.a.question.rose.ensued.emerged
alt.lovely.Lenore.surprises?.sits?.resurrects?
alt.being-a-cur.it.nevermored.nevermored.nevermored
alt."stark.wretch!".shrieked.remonstrated.shouted
"alt.indecipherable.raven.go!.begone!.fly!
alt.pesky.wretch.dissociate!.withdraw!.go!
alt.utterly.nothing.overlook.leave.neglect
alt.soundly.I.say.tell:.go!"
alt.hateful.raven.nevered.nevered.repeated
alt.immediate.plight.illustrate.explicate.a-specify
alt.sly.wretch.did-persist.overemotionalizes.agonizes
alt.sitting-by.I.pine.grieve.languish
alt.imp's.eyes.infiltrate.penetrate.exasperate
alt.contemptuous.it.sits.depresses.goads
alt.sad.soul.die.dilapidate.redisintegrate
L'EnvoiA few closing comments. I'm particularly proud of the last line in stanzas 16 and 17 (the antepenultimate and penultimate stanzas in the poem). The "nevermored.nevermored.nevermored" in stanza 16 is dependent on engineering things so that I could use the triple zero that occurs at the 602nd digit of pi. Similarly, stanza 17 ends with a nice variation on "nevermore", based on the digits 7-7-8. Stanza 17 also has the distinction of being the only one containing no hyphens (that most useful symbol for helping to satisfy the AANVVV constraint).
Despite the extreme difficulty of the task, many of the stanzas remain quite close to the meaning of the original, sometimes even using some of the same words. The damn thing even starts off with "dreary night" instead of "midnight dreary"!
Unless I change my mind, this will be the last constrained version of The Raven I ever attempt! Still, if you have constraint ideas, the possibility that I could be tempted remains!...
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