Herb’s Blog, Herbdate 22361 – 825:
Here’s the haps:
My dear fans, friends, fiends, foes, foundlings, frolicking freaks, and other nice assorted people,
I went looking back to find the post where I tried my hand at writing a poem in the villanelle form. Some of you have been with me for the long haul and I thank you very much and so I didn’t want to just re-post that since it was less than six months old. Besides, I wanted to try it again. The post I was looking for was called The Much Promised, Highly Vaunted Villanelle and I felt like I had done a fairly adequate job with a form that was new to me. Then, according to my nature, I decided that a good subject would be a villain named, “L,” i.e., Villain L, but it didn’t really just catch my fancy, either. All of the villains I could think of were either too dark or had the wrong initials. Then I got to thinking about the old cowboy cliffhangers where the good guy always wore a white hat and the bad guy wore a black hat and the good guy was a really good guy and the bad guy was really a bad guy. And this song by the Coasters, epitomizes every Saturday matinee cliffhanger. The villain, Salty Sam, trying to get the deed to Sweet Sue’s ranch only to be thwarted by Jones!
One of the most villainous villains I could think of, who fit all of the stereotypes necessary, was Snidely Whiplash. Voiced by Hans Conreid, Snidely had it all when it came to villainy. Tying women to railroad tracks and stealing little old ladies’ lunch money and foreclosing on penniless widows. Only to be thwarted by the pure-hearted Dudley Do-Right of the Mounties.
The Villain L
The vile, villainous Leroy caught sweet Nell
He twirled his villainous mustache and laughed
“Where is the hero who can save you now, pray tell?”
Valiantly across the plain rode Bill
He would head the bad guy off at the pass
“Sign over the deed now,” L said to Nell
“There was a reason you weren’t in the will.
Grandpa knew you’d subdivide the ranch
While he knew that I would never sell.”
“I’ll throw you off the cliff at the pass, Nell.”
“Give up and run away while you’ve the chance
Or you will certainly have to face Bill.”
“Bwahaha! Your hero’s far away still.”
Just then a shot rang out across the pass.
There astride his mighty steed was Bill.
Leroy’s face turned green, he was so ill
“Curses! Foiled again!” He said at last
The vile villainous villain let go of Nell
And a happy ending is all we can tell
If you want to wear a white hat you should obey the Cowboy Ten Commandments. By most of the accounts I have read, Gene Autry tried to live this way in his private life as well as his public life.
Gene Autry’s Cowboy Code
The Cowboy must never shoot first, hit a smaller man, or take unfair advantage.
He must never go back on his word, or a trust confided in him.
He must always tell the truth.
He must be gentle with children, the elderly, and animals.
He must not advocate or possess racially or religiously intolerant ideas.
He must help people in distress.
He must be a good worker.
He must keep himself clean in thought, speech, action, and personal habits.
He must respect women, parents, and his nation’s laws.
The Cowboy is a patriot.
Comments
22 responses to “Blogging A – Z Challenge 2021: V Is For The Villanelle Of The Villainous Villain L”
An interesting poem on the crushing of villains in villanelle form, which sounds like a form created especially for villains. LOL. And beautiful cartoons. Especially the horse, dressed like a ranger. LOL. Even with a nice grin.
Thanks. That was a cartoon show I watched growing up, “Dudley Do-Right of the Mounted Police.” It would come on during Rocky and Bullwinkle on Saturday mornings. Snidely Whiplash was really melodramatic.
“Bullwinkle” is a real word. LOL. It has such a psychic and psychological meaning. I just love it.
Bullwinkle J. Moose was one of my favorites.
https://www.urbandictionary.com › bulwrinkle means
A horoscope so bad that it strikes fear into the heart of the reader, rendering them unable take action or make a decision on anything or to even leave the house.
Wow! Nope. I have never heard that one. That’s really interesting.
Gene Autrey the singing cowboy, always liked his flicks more than Roy Rogers
I really liked all the sidekicks, too. Gabby Hayes, Jingles…
Gotta love George Gabby Hayes, I worked with a guy who was just like Gabby 😅
I knew a guy who was a lot like Jingles, myself. Of course a lot of the sidekicks had similar qualities.
I notice you wear a black hat in your Blog photo….
Well, er, you know…pobody’s nerfect.
Interesting post! Calgary, which is where I live, has a white Stetson hat as a symbol because of the Calgary Stampede. When VIPs come to town, they are given a hat — or at least they used to be. I expect it’s still done, but I don’t know for sure.
I had to ask the Google about it. That sounds like a lot of fun. Made me think of this quote for some reason, “We’d better give the boys a chance to blow off some steam.” “They’d better blow it careful,” I said. “Some of those Canadians are mighty rough. Nice folks, but they can handle themselves.” – Tell Sackett – Lonely on the Mountain by Louis L’Amour.
Interesting
Interesting?
But Clint eastwood was a coboy and the hero and he certainly never followed Gene’s code. Answer that Mr. Blabk hat
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Laughter Beats Pneunomia!! I now have proof positive!
Well, er, Clint was kind of a maverick…no…wait…that was James Garner…I’m confused.
Confusion is best when shared with a friend
Duh, okay boss!
Ah yes, Snidely Whiplash, twirling his malevolent mustache just as I remembered.
I commend you on your poetry efforts. Mine never advanced much beyond the limerick.
There once was a robber named Whiplash
Who feloniously twirled at his mustache.
When a victim, scared spastic
Tried to pay him with plastic,
The thief replied “No, sorry, just cash.”
🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂 Very good!