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A Forth Poem by Julian Noble, inscribed into an old copy of Scientific Forth

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  A Forth Poem by Julian Noble, inscribed into an old copy of Scientific Forth AKE <assadebrahim2000@gmail.com> - 2014-02-24 04:33 -0800
    Re: A Forth Poem by Julian Noble, inscribed into an old copy of Scientific Forth "Rod Pemberton" <dont_use_email@xnohavenotit.cnm> - 2014-02-24 17:58 -0500
      Re: A Forth Poem by Julian Noble, inscribed into an old copy of Scientific Forth Assad Ebrahim <assadebrahim2000@gmail.com> - 2014-02-24 22:08 -0800
        Re: A Forth Poem by Julian Noble, inscribed into an old copy of Scientific Forth "Rod Pemberton" <dont_use_email@xnohavenotit.cnm> - 2014-02-25 05:10 -0500

#28739 — A Forth Poem by Julian Noble, inscribed into an old copy of Scientific Forth

I recently found a reasonably priced second-hand copy of Julian Noble's Scientific Forth on the Internet and have just received it in the post.

To my delight, it has a lengthy inscription, hand-written, and signed by him, and dated 26 April 1992.

I'm re-printing it here for the interest of other Forthers.  There is one word (a name perhaps?) in the last verse that I'm not sure I can make out.  I've put these in parentheses.  If anyone can think of a different reading, please do suggest.

- Assad

===================

To Abe, my once and future father-in-law:

A Prayer for Forth

When I undertood a quixotic crusade
  On behalf of the Forth tongue obscure
I offered this book to the publishing trade -
  Who soon beat a path from my door!

O FORTH, they FORTHright endearing concision
  They power, thy speed that my book doth convey
Are these but destined for scorn and derision,
  Doomed not to go FORTH into light of day?

O FORTH doth thy star now wane in declension?
  Declare it a FALSEhood lest we wax too sad
Pray, (Gresham), thy Law now hold in suspension
  That for once the Good may drive FORTH the Bad!

    Julian V. Noble
    26 April 1992
    inscribed in Scientific Forth, Mechum Banks Publishing, 1992

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#28755

On Mon, 24 Feb 2014 07:33:21 -0500, AKE <assadebrahim2000@gmail.com> wrote:

> I recently found a reasonably priced second-hand copy of Julian Noble's  
> Scientific Forth on the Internet and have just received it in the post.
>
> To my delight, it has a lengthy inscription, hand-written, and signed by  
> him, and dated 26 April 1992.
>
> I'm re-printing it here for the interest of other Forthers.  There is  
> one word (a name perhaps?) in the last verse that I'm not sure I can  
> make out.  I've put these in parentheses.  If anyone can think of a  
> different reading, please do suggest.
>
> - Assad
>
> ===================
>
> To Abe, my once and future father-in-law:
>
> A Prayer for Forth
>

Could you check some of the words again?

> When I undertood a quixotic crusade

As far as I know, "undertood" is not a word.
It's most likely "undertook" with a 'k' not 'd'.
Or, it could be "understood", but that's far less likely.

>   On behalf of the Forth tongue obscure
> I offered this book to the publishing trade -
>   Who soon beat a path from my door!

Seems to be missing 'away' between 'path' and 'from',
but it's a poem.  So, it might not be present.

> O FORTH, they FORTHright endearing concision
>   They power, thy speed that my book doth convey

Thy power?  'They' seems incorrect here.  It would seem it should be
be 'Thy' and not 'They'.

The 'they' in the line above in front of FORTHright is awkward too.
It would seem it should be 'the' and not 'they'.

FORTHright is usually spelled with a 'w', i.e., Forthwright.
FORTHright might be poetic license.  But, please, check that one too.

> Are these but destined for scorn and derision,
>   Doomed not to go FORTH into light of day?

Seems to be missing 'the' between 'into' and 'light',
but it's a poem.  So, it might not be present.

> O FORTH doth thy star now wane in declension?
>   Declare it a FALSEhood lest we wax too sad
> Pray, (Gresham), thy Law now hold in suspension
>   That for once the Good may drive FORTH the Bad!
>
>     Julian V. Noble
>     26 April 1992
>     inscribed in Scientific Forth, Mechum Banks Publishing, 1992

Hope that helps,


Rod Pemberton

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#28762

On Monday, February 24, 2014 10:58:51 PM UTC, Rod Pemberton wrote:
> On Mon, 24 Feb 2014 07:33:21 -0500, AKE <AKE@.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> FORTHright is usually spelled with a 'w', i.e., Forthwright.
> 
> FORTHright might be poetic license.  But, please, check that one too.
> 
> 
> 

Hi Rod --- 

This post was supposed to have been deleted!  I removed and re-posted, with the typos corrected.  Please see the next post for the correct version --- as well as Richard O's useful remark about the reference to Gresham's Law.

FORTHright is, however, the way that word is spelled in the poem.

Sorry for the confusion with the deleted post... 
Assad

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#28769

On Tue, 25 Feb 2014 01:08:17 -0500, Assad Ebrahim  
<assadebrahim2000@gmail.com> wrote:

> This post was supposed to have been deleted!

I saw your other post, but it was only after I had replied
to the first one.  I'm not sure if I overlooked it or if the,
server didn't send it right away.  Anyway, sorry about that.

You must be a Google Groups user.  This is a Usenet group.
Usenet servers generally don't allow you to delete messages
due to abuse decades ago (forged delete messages).  Google
Groups respects the deletion messages from Usenet though ...


Rod Pemberton

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