Rich the treasure,
Sweet the pleasure
~John Dryden
For this Poetry Friday, I'm sharing a literary scavenger hunt. This was a new concept to me, concocted by my older daughter last week for my birthday. She put together a poem with bits (1-6 words) from ten different books from her own bookcase.
The clues were things like "if you know only one contemporary poet... 85, 1" which led me to find the first line on the 85th page of a Billy Collins book. "Elena's bae, 11, 5" led me to Jane Austen, page 11, line 5. "D's the namesake, 89, last, 6" led me to Dashiell Hammett, page 89, last line, sixth word. "the only book in my favorite trilogy that I haven't read, 156, 13, 4-7" brought me to Marilynne Robinson, page 156, line 13, words 4-7.
It was quite a project for her, as you can imagine! It would be hard to do with anyone who you didn't share books with, but perhaps students or teachers could create a classroom literary scavenger hunt.
The compiled poem was:
My best beloved and approved friend,
Well, I'll be danged!
Another year.
The beauty of thy days:
this love for everyday things
and always
being a little silly and sweet.
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Thanks, Ariana! xo
I was wondering whether it would be possible to do a literary scavenger hunt with blogs. I haven't figured out how, yet, though. I could say go here, 2, 3-10, but that would be too easy. Basically, it would work with clues to people's blogs, but doing clues to specific posts seems too tough. (There are fun possibilities...seems like something Donna might be able to make the most of!)
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Life on the Deckle Edge has the Poetry Friday round-up today. Thanks, Robyn!
18 comments:
What a fun idea. Your daughter is very talented and clever (but you already knew that). Awesome birthday poem!
Brilliant and fun...all in one.
I believe this is a most sweetest gift one could receive, Tabatha. Your daughter is thoughtful and clever. You're right, Donna might work it out.
What an amazing birthday present! You have quite a brilliant daughter to come up with the poem and the clues for you. Thank you for sharing.
What a sweetie. I love the shared love and experience of this. It takes found poetry to a whole new level. (And a belated happy birthday to you. :) )
What a delightful gift from your daughter. My favorite line: "this love for everyday things "
This is a lot more work than a book spine poem, but oh, so satisfying for the recipient.
What a special gift. Sounds like you have a daughter after your own kind.
You have a very special daughter to know you so well to make that scavenger hunt and poem for you. Absolutely delightful to read. I think a hunt through blogs could be fun!
Wow! What an amazing concept!
This definitely outshines my traditional rhymed clues for the Spring Basket Hunt (--which should be happening TOMORROW! Oh goodness.) Love everything about it from start to finish--no more personal gift than this!
I love the idea of a blog scavenger hunt. People would have to opt in and I can think of a way to structure it, but what would be the prize? And perhaps we're sort of already doing something similar with the Progressive Poem!
I like the idea of the blog scavenger hunt. Makes me think of the Progressive Poem, too. And the Found Words events by Laura.
What a wonderful poem found in those favorite books.
Ariana is a treasure - so very talented like her mom. Thanks for sharing this wondrous gift and project (& challenge.) with us. :0)
Brilliant! And you could totally make it part of a novel. :-) Someone is leaving clues from someone else . . .
I am amazed by the time your daughter spent on such a thoughtful gift. Let me know if you figure out a way to do it with blogs. Maybe we start with the found poem and work backwards to the posts?
What an AMAZING gift! Just incredible! What a sweetheart to take the time to put this together!
I'm flattered that you think I might be able to do something with this concept for/with the blogging community. After reading what she did, and thinking a little, I'm starting to get a couple bits of ideas brewing. What if we did it in May? That would be after the A to Z Challenge and the Progressive Poem, but still fresh in minds, with time to work out how it goes. This could be A LOT of fun! I'll touch base with you again soon.
Absolutely terrific! What an amazing daughter to take the time to do this for your birthday. It's a perfect gift. Her example makes me want to try it, but I wonder how to even start!
Ok, Tabatha. I'm trying something tomorrow. The clues are up for a Scavenger Hunt for World Poetry Day. At least it's a start. Then I'll open it up for a padlet where others can post clues, if it looks like it is workable. It should be fun to try at least!
Yes, I know I'm ridiculously late to this post, but now my heart is melted in all the right places. Ariana, y'done good, kid. <3
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