Palinode

Peter points us to today's A.Word.A.Day

"palinode (PAL-uh-noad) noun

A poem in which the author retracts something said in an earlier poem.

[The illustrator and humorist Gelett Burgess (1866-1951) once wrote a
poem called The Purple Cow:

I never saw a purple cow,
I never hope to see one;
But I can tell you, anyhow,
I'd rather see than be one.

The poem became so popular and he became so closely linked with this single
quatrain he later wrote a palinode:

Confession: and a Portrait, Too,
Upon a Background that I Rue!

   Oh, yes, I wrote 'The Purple Cow,'
   I'm sorry now I wrote it!
   But I can tell you anyhow,
   I'll kill you if you quote it.

[It was the same Burgess who coined the word blurb.]

I think there's a lot to be said for retractions. Retractions let your marketing (and your entire organization) move forward even after you've made a mistake. We're too slow to admit that we were wrong sometimes.

PS, feel free to quote my Purple Cow if you like. No harm done.