Improv

Improv – Short for “improvisation,” a form of prepared but unscripted comedy.

Got the basics down – “To get the basics down” is an idiom meaning to master the basic skills required for a task or job. Here the phrase might suggest a play on the additional meaning in petrology of “basic” igneous rocks originating “down,” i.e., deep in the earth. “Basic” is an obsolete synonym for “mafic” meaning having a relatively high content of magnesium (Ma) and iron (Fe).

Ancient lines – A play on two meanings: 1) subterranean veins of magma the age of which is measured in millions of years; and 2) spoken words of antique dramas the age of which is measured in thousands of years.

Footwork – Refers here to “fancy footwork” in its figurative meaning of clever remarks and quick inventive actions to get the speaker out of a troublesome situation or to persuade or deceive the person he’s talking to.

Ground – A play on two meanings: 1) earth; and 2) the pit of a theater.

Plays – A play on two meanings: 1) dramas; and 2) maneuvers; actions or moves, sometimes pre‑arranged, in a game.

Cracks – A play on two meanings: 1) fissures; and 2) wisecracks, jokes.

Sound – A play on two meanings: 1) something that one hears; and 2) a probe of depth, a sounding.

The race is to the swift – This is a modification of a famous biblical saying from Ecclesiastes 9:11. The full verse is: I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. (King James Version)

Extempore – (Pronounced ek-STEM-pə-ree) Here, prepared in advance but delivered without notes or text. Other meanings include: 1) spoken or done with little or no preparation or practice; and 2) made or adapted as an expedient, makeshift.

Sources memorized – A play on two meanings of “sources”: 1) geologic origins of magma; and 2) scripts used as the basis for improvisation in performance. An example of the latter was the 17^th century Italian Commedia dell’arte where the actors were trained to work on the basis of a fixed (written) plot outline with stock characters into which they fit improvised lines, comic turns, stage business, and other performance details.

Here “memorized” means “committed to memory,” but fittingly for million‑year‑old rock, “to memorize” has an obsolete meaning of “to cause to be remembered; to put on record.” A volcanic eruption reminds people on the surface of underground geologic activity, and the permanent cooled lava layer puts it on record.

Crust – The Earth’s crust, the topmost geologic layer of the land masses and ocean floors.

The continents go adrift – Refers to the widely accepted theory of Continental Drift, first proposed by German geologist Alfred Wegener around 1915 explaining that the Earth’s continents moved to their current positions after the breakup of one large continent.

Poródy – (Pronounced pa-RŌ-dē) A transliteration of the Russian word породы “rock layers.”

Imparadised – (Pronounced im-PAIR-a-dized) A play on two meanings: 1) To be made extremely happy; and 2) historically, to be put into the cheapest seats in a theater – in a gallery also called “the gods” (in French le paradis) located high up at the back of the hall.

A third meaning of “imparadised” might also be implied here: “to be put into Paradise” in the sense of being “blown sky‑high” – an idiom meaning literally to be blown high into the air (as material thrown out during a volcanic eruption), and figuratively “to be completely negated” (such as a theory that is proven wrong).

The word “paradise” goes back to the Greek word paradeisos which is also given by some authorities as the origin of the Russian word poródy (“rock layers”). It is not clear whether this common root of the words in the poem’s last line was intentional or coincidental.