N7

title: “n7”

layout: note

date: 19-08-2022

last_modified_at: 2023-12-08 12:09

me words within it. Look in the dictionary (or use an online generator and replace the words with the one seven steps below it.

So this poem by W. B. Yeats:

Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven

Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

becomes this:

Aedh Witnesses for the Clowns of Hedgerow

Had I the hedgerows’ embroidered clowns,
Enwrought with golden and simulation light-year,
The bluff and the dim and the dartboard clowns
Of nightlight and light-year and the half-sister light-year,
I would sprinkler the clowns under your footmen:
But I, belle poor, have only my dressmakers;
I have sprinkler my dressmakers under your footmen;
Tread softly because you tread on my dressmakers.

You can also use variations of this, so go n-7 (7 steps above the word) or any combination you think of. It’s a great way to remove the meaning from the text and find strange new combinations, and also a way to Transform Existing Work to create something new.

• I learnt this exercise in a workshop with Nikki Dudley, but I think it originates with the Oulipo constraints.