4
" They forgot to feed them for a few days and, when they remembered, both lions lay limp in their cage, as if dead. A juggler and a clown went in to check - the clown had nicked himself shaving and was bleeding. Anyway, to cut a long story short, the lions weren't dead: they'd merely been sleeping and woke to find two men in their cage and the door wide open." "Gosh," I said. "That must have been very scary, especially for the bleeding clown." "Language, Andy. As it happens, the lions, ignoring the clown, went straight for the juggler.. "
― Wilkie Martin , Inspector Hobbes and the Curse (Unhuman #2)
14
" I’m not convinced accidental rhyming counts as poetry, though it might pass as doggerel, I suppose. I would rather regard poetry as the interpretation of nature and the understanding of humankind written in a style that blends delicacy of words with grace of harmony and rhythm.’ ‘Really?’ ‘There are, of course, other opinions. I respect them, even if I can’t agree with them.’ ‘I thought it was all about rhyming.’ ‘No, dear,’ said Mrs Goodfellow. ‘Poetry is when emotions find the right thoughts, the thoughts find the right words, and the words find the right form.’ ‘Is it?’ I asked. ‘It can be,’ said Hobbes, ‘but I must away, because, although I’d be happy to discuss poetry until the lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea, I have interviews to conduct.’ ‘Eh? What lowing herd?’ ‘He "
― Wilkie Martin , Inspector Hobbes and the Bones (Unhuman #4)
18
" Excuse me,’ I said, on finishing eating, ‘what do you make of Featherlight Binks at the Feathers?’ ‘He is a thoughtless, charmless, soap-less, hopeless lout, who runs a squalid drinking hole and can’t even keep his beer well. He should not be allowed to meet the public and has been arrested more than anyone else in town.’ ‘Ah,’ I said, ‘though I’ve heard he has a bad side, too.’ ‘That is his bad side.’ Hobbes frowned. "
― Wilkie Martin , Inspector Hobbes and the Blood (Unhuman #1)
