I’ve heard of Heroic Couplets but don’t know what they are. Presumably some sort of poetic style from a few hundred years ago. I’ll have a look in a minute or so. But just before I do that, a thought has just popped into my head of a couple of heroes of my own.
A little learning is a dangerous thing;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.
True ease in writing comes from art, not chance,
As those move easiest who have learned to dance.
Good nature and good sense must ever join;
To err is human, to forgive, divine.
Hope springs eternal in the human breast:
Man never is, but always to be blest.
What had struck me was Lennon and McCartney. Not only one of the greatest song writing partnerships with approximately 180 jointly credited songs but they are widely credited with establishing the modern singer‑songwriter model. Before the 1960s most bands did not write their own material, and most of their hits were written for them by session musicians hired by record companies.
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| Lennon and McCartney, song writing partnership |
Then another couple sprang to mind as I’d just watched the ‘America’ dance scene from Leonard Bernstein’s ‘West Side Story’. Which is how the show is usually advertised, even for the Proms. It is, of course, Bernstein AND STEPHEN SONDHEIM’s West Side Story. It does annoy me that lyricists are usually the forgotten heroes. Here’s a link. Perfect matching of words and music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e2igZexpMs
I let my mind drift for other couples and unexpectedly thought of Torvill and Dean. At the Sarajevo 1984 Winter Olympics the pair won gold receiving twelve perfect 6.0s and six 5.9s which included artistic impression scores of 6.0 from every judge, after skating to Ravel's Boléro. One of the most-watched television events ever in the United Kingdom, their 1984 Olympics performance was watched by a British television audience of more than 24 million people. I just had another look and their routine is still astonishing:
https://www.olympics.com/en/video/torvill-and-dean-s-legendary-bolero-performance-music-mondays
I can’t not include football partnerships and not from the Premier League, thank you very much. After much thought I decided to stick with what I’ve seen or else it should include Stan Matthews and Stan Mortensen in the famous Matthews Cup Final of 1953.
I let my mind drift for other couples and unexpectedly thought of Torvill and Dean. At the Sarajevo 1984 Winter Olympics the pair won gold receiving twelve perfect 6.0s and six 5.9s which included artistic impression scores of 6.0 from every judge, after skating to Ravel's Boléro. One of the most-watched television events ever in the United Kingdom, their 1984 Olympics performance was watched by a British television audience of more than 24 million people. I just had another look and their routine is still astonishing:
https://www.olympics.com/en/video/torvill-and-dean-s-legendary-bolero-performance-music-mondays
I can’t not include football partnerships and not from the Premier League, thank you very much. After much thought I decided to stick with what I’ve seen or else it should include Stan Matthews and Stan Mortensen in the famous Matthews Cup Final of 1953.
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| Mortensen and Matthews (sitting on the shoulders of giants) |
So I’m going for the Tony Adams and Steve Bould from Arsenal’s great seasons in the late 80’s and early 90’s. I know that it should include Lee Dixon and Nigel Winterburn but it’s my article and I’ll have those two as the second couplet.
Of course, the very best couple was Trevor Francis and Bob Latchford for Birmingham City in the mid 70s but that is too obvious.
I first came across Detective Chief Inspector Morse back in about 1986 when I spotted The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn and was immediately hooked. His partnership with Sergeant Lewis is wonderfully portrayed in Colin Dexter’s books. The tv series is fine but the books are properly gritty, not the lush version on screen.
I think one of the most heroic couples are Jane and Stephen Hawking. The couple met at Cambridge University. They went on to marry in 1965, Jane aged just 21, and had three children together. They were married for 30 years from 1965 until they divorced in 1995. Stephen’s story is well known but I hadn’t known that Jane had earned her PhD degree in medieval Spanish poetry in April 1981.
I should end on a more up to date couple who are my heroes and they must be Wallace and Gromit. Created by Nick Park, from Preston, and described by the BBC News as ‘some of the best-known and best-loved stars to come out of the UK’.
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| Nick Park with Wallace and Gromit |
Unfortunately, I’ve just realised that I’ve run out of time and space but have had time to find a few Heroic Couplets by Alexander Pope.
The Rape of the Lock
Here Thou, great Anna! whom three Realms obey,
Dost sometimes Counsel take—and sometimes Tea.
The Rape of the Lock
Here Thou, great Anna! whom three Realms obey,
Dost sometimes Counsel take—and sometimes Tea.
A little learning is a dangerous thing;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.
True ease in writing comes from art, not chance,
As those move easiest who have learned to dance.
Good nature and good sense must ever join;
To err is human, to forgive, divine.
Hope springs eternal in the human breast:
Man never is, but always to be blest.
Thanks for reading, Terry Q.
