villanelle

As I was dozing off on Wednesday night, a couple of lines of verse drifted into my head.  They sounded as though they ought to be from something formal, and I promised them I would think about it in the morning if they would just let me go to sleep.  I decided yesterday that they came from a villanelle, though I had to look up the exact structure on Wikipedia.  The rules about the number of lines, repetitions and rhyme scheme are strict.

From Aberdeen to Inverness

The rain it raineth every day.

It rains on Essex less and less.

Sweet rains the Scottish crops caress,

The northern flowers are bright and gay,

From Aberdeen to Inverness.

Parched earth gapes, that no raindrops bless,

The leaves are sere, the blooms decay,

It rains on Essex less and less.

The churchyard is a squelching mess,

The bride for sun in vain doth pray,

From Aberdeen to Inverness.

Dry winds double our distress,

As flower borders turn to hay,

It rains on Essex less and less.

It has rained to north and west,

From tip of Cornwall to the Tay,

From Aberdeen to Inverness.
It rains on Essex less and less.

I feel a bit cheeky rhyming 'west' with 'Inverness', but it's only doggerel.  I think I detect the Kaiser Chiefs as an influence in there, as well as The Bard.

In fact we had 5mm of rain yesterday afternoon, and have had another 3mm today, but still need much, much more.  I was talking to my hairdresser, who has a horse.  A bale of hay lasts a horse 2-3 days.  Two years ago it cost around £2.50, and now they are up to £6 a bale.  There isn't really anything else you can give a horse to eat instead.