Tackle the Text Writing on the Wall

Is the poem a message from Amanda? What is she trying to tell us?

90 responses

1. RRRules 04.16.2010

   It’s by Lewis Carroll. The poem is called “A valentine”

   And cannot pleasures, while they last,
   Be actual unless, when past,
   They leave us shuddering and aghast,
   With anguish smarting?
   And cannot friends be firm and fast,
   And yet bear parting?

   And must I then, at Friendship’s call,
   Calmly resign the little all
   (Trifling, I grant, it is and small)
   I have of gladness,
   And lend my being to the thrall
   Of gloom and sadness?

   And think you that I should be dumb,
   And full DOLORUM OMNIUM,
   Excepting when YOU choose to come
   And share my dinner?
   At other times be sour and glum
   And daily thinner?

   Must he then only live to weep,
   Who’d prove his friendship true and deep
   By day a lonely shadow creep,
   At night-time languish,
   Oft raising in his broken sleep
   The moan of anguish?

   The lover, if for certain days
   His fair one be denied his gaze,
   Sinks not in grief and wild amaze,
   But, wiser wooer,
   He spends the time in writing lays,
   And posts them to her.

   And if the verse flow free and fast,
   Till even the poet is aghast,
   A touching Valentine at last
   The post shall carry,
   When thirteen days are gone and past
   Of February.

   Farewell, dear friend, and when we meet,
   In desert waste or crowded street,
   Perhaps before this week shall fleet,
   Perhaps to-morrow.
   I trust to find YOUR heart the seat
   Of wasting sorrow.

   (Dolorum means pain)

2. fashionista17 04.16.2010

   First of all, Nia, it said, “I trust to find your heart IN the seat.” I think that whoever wrote this might have a link to Amanda. OR it might be Amanda writing to us. Who knows. Anybody could have wrote it. But, there is one solution. If you had a peice of Amanda’s handwriting, you could compare it to the writing on the wall, and see if it’s a match. If it’s not a match, I don’t really know what to tell you about that. Wait a second. Maybe Amanda is still in Orion! It said in the poem that “Farewell, my friend, and then me meet, In desert waste or crowded street, perhaps before this week shall fleet, perhaps to-morrow.” That means that Amanda might be meeting with someone in a desert waste or crowded street TOMORROW! I suggest you look in a crowded street or desert waste tomorrow. If you can figure out what time Amanda might meet someone on a Saturday(or whatever day you posted this), you might find her! But then you have to figure out whether Amanda would meet someone in a quiet place like a desert waste or a loud place like a crowded street. Probably a desert waste because, you know, it’s deserted and probably nobody is there. Definitely. Try it. I might be wrong, but try. It might be true. And for the last line of the poem, if you can’t find her in either places, try finding her in the same place you found the writing. Probably in the bathroom since it said, “I trust to find your heart in the seat.” Right in front of the stall, maybe. I don’t know. Just try and see if it works. I’ll write more for any other information.

   P.S. I said MAYBE. I don’t know if it’ll work or not. Like I said, TRY IT!

3. RRRules 04.16.2010

   Hm, I don’t think there are any “desert wastes” in Orion…
   I think the seat bit is a bit of humor on AV’s part.
   Maybe we should try the diner again? Like the poem:

   “And think you that I should be dumb,
   And full DOLORUM OMNIUM,
   Excepting when YOU choose to come
   And share my dinner?
   At other times be sour and glum
   And daily thinner?”

4. fashionista17 04.16.2010

   I think your right RRRules. You might want to check the diner. But, why would Amanda be in such a open place like the diner? If she was hiding she would be in someplace where no one would think of with the person she cared about the most.

5. fashionista17 04.16.2010

   RRRules? Hello? Can you answer me I want your response.

6. trumpetgirl 04.16.2010

   My question is, why in the poem does tomorrow have a dash between to and morrow? (to-morrow). And why didn’t Amanda (or whoever wrote it on the wall) put it in the writing? The “I trust to find YOUR heart the seat. Of waisting sorrow,” I think that just implies the writer is saying “I hope you are very sad.” Oh! I just found something out! Lewis Carroll did that in all of his writings! I checked. Even in Alice in Wonderland! In all of his poems, books, etc. Tomorrow is always broken into to-morrow. But why… if it even has any significance.

7. marycaulf 04.16.2010

   No!!!!  It’s from someone else

8. trumpetgirl 04.16.2010

   Oh, and one more thing. Why did Amanda (or whoever wrote it) say “I trust to find your heart in the seat,” when in the real poem its “I trust to find YOUR heart the seat.” That’s strange.

9. trumpetgirl 04.16.2010

   That’s what it looks like on the wall anyways.

10. SarahB 04.16.2010

    Well it’s in a toilet stall… why not try lifting up the toilet seat to see if there’s anything hidden underneath?

    Lewis Caroll was an interesting character in himself. He used an assumed name too. He was a mathematician who also wrote fantasy books (Alice in Wonderland) but under a different name to his real name. Sounds a lot like Amanda, right? This has got to be a message from Amanda. I think there’s more hidden meaning here, just like the yellow sapphire donation notes.

11. fashionista17 04.16.2010

    I get what your saying trumpetgirl, but why did the person who was writing on the wall put a to in it when there wasn’t(I know, it was the same question of yours. Coincidence?)? But, WHY? I don’t really get it. And SarahB, that’s a really great idea. They should try that. Got to go, going to the store. Bye. I’ll come back soon.

12. RRRules 04.16.2010

    (sorry i dind’t reply emily, I was off.)
    I think the “in” was a typo or something. Contrary to popular belief, AV _is_ human.
    As for the to-morrow, trumpet, it’s a way of writing. In the olden days, people wrote with a hyphen there. It’s not abnormal.
    I like the toilet seat idea :)
    Does someone want to compare the message to the note from the key that we got a while ago?
    Hm, I’m fresh out of ideas once again. I’ll go look for more clues in the poem.

13. RRRules 04.16.2010

    “And cannot friends be firm and fast,
    And yet bear parting?”
    Remind anyone of anything? AV was a good, “firm and fast” friend to many, but in the end she parted.

14. fashionista17 04.16.2010

    Back

15. fashionista17 04.16.2010

    I’ll compare them RRRules.

16. fashionista17 04.16.2010

    Wait, what note from the key? Where do I find it?

17. fashionista17 04.16.2010

    Look, I know I’m asking a lot of questions, but I haven’t been on here for a few months and i’m kind of lost. Can someone help??? Please?????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

18. kbgirl 04.16.2010

    maybe someone (or amanda) knows something

19. Pipper 04.17.2010

    emily861, i suggest u look at the older stories. Anyway, The poem is called “A valentine”
    and its by Lewis Carrol, is there any one at Enduevor who you could mix the letters around, like is there a Carrol Lewis? because she and Amanda could be friends, and she’s telling Carrol that she’ll meet her on Valentines day at a valentines day festial and she’ll be wearing a trash costume that she made??? or is there a Lewis Caroll that she is in love with and telling him to meet her at a garbage dump???????

20. Pipper 04.17.2010

    and telling him/her that she’ll save him/her a seat for a show?

21. _Sakura_ 04.17.2010

    Is this poem meant specifically for Nia? I agree with RRRules. we should try to check the diner again.
    What if this part of the poem was just a hint, and we were supposed to find the creator of it? Well we did, Lewis Carroll.

    I think we should see other parts of the poem to see if they connect with Amanda, or if we get any other ideas from them.

22. LINDARTIST 04.17.2010

    I agree with whoever said to lift up the toilet seat. After all, it IS called “the seat” by some people…

23. kuwaly 04.17.2010

    I think that the seat refers to a seat in the theater that has cut out and replaced or something like that. The clue could either be in the seat itself or the seat could be the place where they could meet Amanda, or someone else important, tomorrow.

    For what trumpetgirl said, my other thought for where they could go is somewhere that people (or the guides specifically) would go when they were sad. That could be a therapist’s office, a comedy show, or even possibly the hill that the three guides went to before.

24. fashionista17 04.17.2010

    I compared them, and they are NOT a match! The note that we got is writing in cursive, and the writing on the wall is different. WAY different. But, that was a nice idea RRRules. I like your thinking. Now we have to come up with another strategy. And plus, I just finished the book today.

    Kuwaly, I don’t think you’re right. I mean, why would it be a seat in a theater? They found the writing on a WALL in a BATHROOM STALL! Doesn’t really make sense to me.

    Pipper, thanks for your help. _Sakura_, why would it be meant for Nia only? Callie, Nia and Hal are all the guides, and they are all working together. So why would it only be for one of them when they are all the guides? But on the other hand, your right. We should check other parts of the poem to see if they connect with Amanda. Nice thinking.

    Pipper, one more thing, if they would meet on Valentine’s Day, we would have to wait a year to find out. So, i don’t really think that that’s the solution to our problems right now.

    I know I’m commenting on all your suggestions, but it’s for the good of finding Amanda. If you’re willing to find Amanda, I think that we should try harder.

    Anyway, I’m going to try to find more clues.

25. BlueRoseGrey 04.17.2010

    Usually I’m pretty good at figuring out this kind of stuff, but this one has got me stumped for no apparent reason and its frustrating me. Horribly. Right now, all I’ve got is that Amanda’s saying goodbye—whether that means that she’s leaving Orion, or that she’s just making up for the no goodbye when she left in the first place. But she’s also saying that she’ll be back—whether that its in a long time or just around the corner. Then another thing: that last line. I literally stared at that last line for about ten minutes, reading the words over and over and over. It had me so stumped that I was literally going to flip out if i didn’t get it (Luckily, i got something). I know this isn’t very good, but it’s all i got. The line says “I trust to find YOUR heart the seat”. To me, what that means is that she trusts that we’ll keep trying to find her even if she’s going to… well, leave wherever she’s going to go. SO…. YEP! that’s all I got today…

26. Amarina 04.17.2010

    Someone was windering why it said ‘to-morrow’, and I think I might have the awnser… She might have meant two diffrent words. A long time ago, people only used ‘Morrow’. Like ‘I will see you under morrow’s golden skies’. Like Shakespeare. Maybe she meant it as ‘to’  ‘morrow’? I don’t know if that would change the meaning, though…

27. AllieK 04.17.2010

    I think Amanda is trying to say farewell from Orion and that she’ll return soon.  I agree that we should check out the toilet seat, but I think the fact that your was capitalized in the last line means something important, not sure what yet.  Its prolly nothing though since it was also capitalized in the origional poem.

28. RRRules 04.18.2010

    Amarina: I answered the “to-morrow” bit. It’s a way of writing. In the olden days, they hyphenated it. It’s nothing spectacular. It’s like the British writing “colour” and the Americans writing “color”.

    Emily; thanks for comparing them. So, does this mean we hit a dead end? If AV didn’t write it…who did?

29. SerenaRules 04.18.2010

    maybe amandas helper at the car have we forgotten aboot her. she could be leaving things for amanda we really need to find her…..or him

30. _Sakura_ 04.18.2010

    This is more complicated than I thought it would be…

    Well, RRRules, it could be someone who knew Amanda, maybe from school or from some where else also trying to find her… maybe Callie, Hal, and Nia are just guides from Orion, Maryland. Amanda might have picked other guides somewhere else.. :P

    Maybe someone else is trying to find Amanda too and happened to find this message.
    Weird idea I know!

31. trumpetgirl 04.18.2010

    BlueRoseGrey I like your idea about the last line. (It had me stumped too!) And AllieK I thought it would be Amanda saying goodbye, but then we found out Amanda didn’t write the piece of the poem on the wall. (We think). If she did, then yes that could be her message. But if someone else did, why would they put it on there? Wait a second. Even if the handwritings don’t match, didn’t Amanda circle the newspaper article about the star sapphire in purple pen?

    “I was dirty from sitting on the floor, sneezy from sniffing all the dust, and beginning to get super frustrated when I spotted a flash of color in the gray pages of the Orion Sentinel. And there it was, just a skinny little section in the Arts & Leisure section, except someone had drawn a border in purple ink around the headline and text.”

    And couldn’t that be the same pen that [Amanda] or someone else wrote the message on the wall in?

32. AllieK 04.18.2010

    Oh my bad I didn’t read that post XP I didn’t think about the purple pen.  Maybe someone else was trying to find Amanda and wrote in purple pen to get the attention of Amanda or one of the other guides?  I agree with Sakura that it could be from someone else who’s trying to find Amanda.  Or maybe the friend who helped paint the car.

33. RRRules 04.18.2010

    Wow, trumpet! The purple pen! I can’t believe we forgot about it!
    AllieK has a point too. It might be someone writing FOR AV, or TO AV.
    Unless it IS AV, and she wrote in print, instead of in script? But why would she do that? Does anyone want to do another handwriting analysis, comparing the size and the slant and whatnot, the stuff we used with the official analysis (posted in the gallery)?

34. fashionista17 04.18.2010

    I guess I’ll do it RRRules. This comparing thing is fun(by the way, thanks for posting where it was.).

    Anyway, I agree with you _Sakura_, it might be from other people that are trying to find her too. And trumpetgirl, good thinking! You really thought outside the box! AllieK, I agree with you too. It might be the person who helped paint the car with Amanda. BlueRoseGrey, I really DON’T get what you’re saying….........

    I’ll post anymore details soon.

35. kuwaly 04.18.2010

    I noticed that everyone is focusing on who wrote it instead of what it means, and while the first is important, we should also figure out what it is talking about. Also, I had a thought that it could be like the rocket’s red glare thing, where each are getting different notes to lead them to the same place, so they can talk about something important. We should see if other notes that may lead to the same thing have been left recently.

36. fashionista17 04.18.2010

    But which one in the gallery RRRules?

37. madmor25 04.18.2010

    Put ur hand on ur mouth
    2.Wish into ur hand
    3.Put ur hand in ur heart for five seconds
    4.Put this comment on three stories
    5.Tomorrow you will have the best day of your LIFE it really works 5 1 3

38. SuperChk 04.19.2010

    WHOA! this is CRAZY!!! I think we should do soem research on Lewis CArrolls life and see where that brings us

39. fashionista17 04.19.2010

    It won’t work SuperChk. How would his life connect to AV’s?

40. tiffany923 04.19.2010

    whoah i knew that poem sounded familiar! amanda used to say it all the time. she said it related to her life, but would never explain how (in usual amanda fashion). i never listened enough to know what the poem was about, so thanks RRRules for posting the full poem! now, it’s obviously about saying goodbye, and if lewis carroll wrote from experience and he, like amanda, disguised himself, then maybe we should look for other lewis carroll poems and see if they have any clues that would relate to amanda (running away, having different identities, etc.) i’ll try to look for some and if you can too i would appreciate it.

41. JinxTheRipper 04.20.2010

    kuwaly, i agree with you. We should find out the meaning behind the poem instead of trying to find whoever wrote it. If we could figure it out, then we might find whoever wrote it.

    But this time, the poem really has me stumped.

42. JinxTheRipper 04.20.2010

    I’ve searched for a meaning behind the poem and i came across something about it being “Acrostic Poem”.

    It means “acrostic, a poem in which the initial letters of each line can be read down the page to spell either an alphabet, a name (often that of the author, a patron, or a loved one), or some other concealed message. Variant forms of acrostic may use middle letters or final letters of lines or, in prose acrostics, initial letters of sentences or paragraphs.”

    Looks like there is a message behind it after all.

43. JinxTheRipper 04.20.2010

    After learning about Arcostic poems, i think this poem is a a puzzle where you fill a square grid with words reading the same doan as across.

44. _Sakura_ 04.20.2010

    I don’t think this is a acrostic poem, because it doesn’t spell out anything. It just says FIPPIO. (the part that Amanda wrote)

45. JinxTheRipper 04.20.2010

    I didn’t think so either but i’ve done my research and it is clearly an arcostic poem. I think the words are not written across, it doesn’t work like a puzzle where you fill in a square grind. It is clearly an arcostic poem, but the words across it doesn’t make sense, maybe we change it around to see if it matches?

    I looked through the words regarding “Fippio” and found an odd newspaper, i don’t think it relates to Amanda Project.

46. trumpetgirl 04.20.2010

    where did you find that the poem is an arcostic poem? by the way, the last letter of the part on the wall doesn’t make sense either, its tttwtw.

47. RRRules 04.20.2010

    This is the first letter of each line.
    ABTWAA
    ACTIAO
    AAEAAA
    MWBAOT
    THSBHA
    ATATWO
    FIPPIO

    But I can’t think of any good anagram….

48. RRRules 04.20.2010

    emily: the gallery is on top, where it says “our stories” “clues” “debate”...

49. AllieK 04.20.2010

    I searched up the poem and I don’t think its acrostic.  Edgar Allen Poe also wrote a poem called “A Valentine” which was an acrostic poem that spelled out the name of Frances Sargent Osgood.  That might have been the one you found.  Lewis Carroll also wrote a lot of acrostic poems but it doesn’t mention his “Valentine” being one of them.
    http://puzzles.about.com/od/acrostics/p/acrostics2.htm

50. _Sakura_ 04.21.2010

    This might not be important at all, but Lewis Carroll’s poems usually spelled GIRL"S NAMES- http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/5637-Lewis-Carroll-Acrostic

    so maybe this poem spells someone’s name too.. ?

51. _Sakura_ 04.21.2010

    I also have a feeling that this poem is a code, and when we decipher it we find a message of some sort.

52. JinxTheRipper 04.21.2010

    How odd, i have researched and it says “A Valentine” by Lewis Carroll is arcostic. It Clearly says that it is an arcostic poem.

    _Sakura_, you’re right. Most of Lewis Carroll’s poems ususally do spell girls’ names. Maybe we should focus on that instead of trying to find the arcostic meaning behind it. Maybe there is a name in that poem, someone whose names has written that poem on the wall? We should try find that name.

53. kuwaly 04.21.2010

    I found something kind of interesting. If you look at the purple writing, you might notice that the some of the letters aren’t completely formed so they look like other letters. The “w”, for example, in “we” looks like an “n”. This happens for other words as well. I’m not sure if that’s just the handwriting or if that’s on purpose, but either way, it’s kind of interesting.

    And for a completely unrelated question that I should probably know the answer to: what state is Orion in? Because I was just looking through the poem again, and I saw the line about the desert. Is there a desert near Orion?

54. fashionista17 04.21.2010

    You might have a point kuwaly. That’s the same exact question I have. That’s why I don’t do research on Orion. I don’t know where it is!

55. kuwaly 04.21.2010

    Do you know if it said where it is in the book or anything else anyone wrote?

56. fashionista17 04.21.2010

    No. But, I found out where it is! It’s in Michigan!

57. kuwaly 04.21.2010

    Is it the real one that’s in Michigan? Because remember this said that this is a fake Orion.

58. fashionista17 04.21.2010

    Where did it say that? On the computer it said, “Lake Orion, Michigan.”

59. kuwaly 04.21.2010

    What computer?

60. fashionista17 04.21.2010

    My computer that I’m to you on right now. I just looked it up. Here’s the link:
    http://www.bing.com/search?q=which+state+is+orion+in?&form=QBRE&qs=n&sk;=

61. kuwaly 04.21.2010

    That’s about Lake Orion instead of Orion from The Amanda Project. They’re completely different places.

62. fashionista17 04.21.2010

    Oh. Then where is it??????????????????????????????????????

63. fashionista17 04.21.2010

    Wait, I just read the caption under Lake Orion, Michigan. Here it is:

    Lake Orion is a village in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan.

    So actually, I was right!

64. kuwaly 04.21.2010

    I get that Lake Orion is in Michigan. I’m not saying that it isn’t. I’m just saying that this takes place in ORION, not LAKE Orion. There’s a difference.

65. RRRules 04.21.2010

    It says it in the book…RAH!! I forgot!

    Guys, guess what?
    Lewis Carroll was a pen name. His real name is Charles Lutwidge Dodgson.

66. fashionista17 04.21.2010

    Weird name RRRules. And kuwaly, I really don’t get what you’re trying to say.

67. fashionista17 04.21.2010

    Where in the book?????????????????? RRRules, honestly tell me and kuwaly, WHERE IS ORION?????????????????????????????????????????????????

68. kuwaly 04.21.2010

    What I was first trying to say was that we should see if we can find where Orion is because there’s a reference to a desert in the excerpt of the poem that she wrote on the door, and I thought we should try to see if there’s a desert near where they are.

69. SarahB 04.22.2010

    From the ‘tell me more’ page…

    “Where does the Amanda Project take place?

    Amanda’s school is located in the (fictional) town of Orion, a suburb of Baltimore, Maryland in the United States.”

    So Orion is in Baltimore, Maryland. :)

70. _Sakura_ 04.22.2010

    Well, it’s fictional so you can’t expect the town to suddenly be real, but I did find on Google Maps this in Maryland:

    Orion Ct
    Rosedale, MD 21237  

    Guys, I suggest going to Google Maps and searching Baltimore, Orion, Maryland because the area is pretty empty, and it’s just a street.

71. fashionista17 04.22.2010

    Thanks for the info on where Orion is SarahB… As for _Sakura_, I’ll do it later at say….......... 4:30 PM or 5:00 PM?

72. JinxTheRipper 04.22.2010

    I never really thought about where is Orion, and i remembered that something was mentioned about Orion being in Kansas.

    I think that was odd, because AV left a message saying “Follow, follow the yellow brick road” and strangely enough Orion is in Kansas, does that mean she’s still in Kansas?

73. AllieK 04.22.2010

    thats an interesting though Jinx.  Someone should look that up

74. _Sakura_ 04.22.2010

    Um… well emilys, time differences. :P it’s 7 pm here so…. I don’t mind whenever you check the coordinates. Do it whenever. :)

    I’ll look it up now.

75. _Sakura_ 04.22.2010

    Orion is in the outskirts of Kansas City, and with Google Maps it’s a street…. like in Maryland. Near it is a Humanature Salon and some other stuff.

    Maybe she is somewhere near there….

76. fashionista17 04.22.2010

    Actually, I can’t do it anymore. Don’t ask why.

77. fashionista17 04.22.2010

    _Sakura_, can you post the link of the google map?

78. _Sakura_ 04.23.2010

    Well, you can just go to google.com and click the label MAPS. then type whichever city/town you want to find.

79. JinxTheRipper 04.23.2010

    Oh by the way, Callie’s school is location in the town of Orion, a subrub of Baltimore, Maryland in the USA, _Sakura_. You were right about that.

80. stef_stone 04.24.2010

    I think that we should check in all of the seats Amanda used to sit in at school… you know like under the desks…people sometimes shove notes under there.

81. Milana 04.24.2010

    If you put the last two lines together, you get:
    “I trust to find YOUR heart the seat Of wasting sorrow.”

    The seat of something can also mean a PLACE where something specified is prevalent.
    So “I trust to find YOUR heart the [place] of wasting sorrow.”
    Wasting sorrow could be diminishing sorrow or a sorrow that diminishes you.
    So “I trust to find YOUR heart the [place] of [diminishing] sorrow.

    Just think about it.

82. Milana 04.24.2010

    The purple writing did say “in the seat”.

    You’re in a toilet stall.

    There is a toilet.

    Toilets usually have a water tank on the back.  Maybe a message might have been left there.

83. xxxRACHELxxx 04.30.2010

    that seems rite on about amanda from what i read

84. nicky629 05.03.2010

    i think amanda wrote it i think she is giveing them clues and when they get were she want them she is wanting to go and make it funner for her so she going the next stop she knows what there going to do and when and where who is this girl who is she really….......................................

85. mandaaelizaa 05.09.2010

    I just wanted to point out the random and totally irrelavent fact that the poem is called ‘A Valentine’ and may or may not be A. Valentino? Amanda…. just thought I’d put in my two cents

86. fashionista17 05.09.2010

    You getting somewhere with that mandaaelizaa….... And I think I know where it is.

87. mandaaelizaa 05.11.2010

    Where!?!?

88. fashionista17 05.11.2010

    Maybe the poem was MEANT for AV????!!!!

89. Annz_Fanz 06.15.2010

    hang on, are you really nia? or are you just like a fake trying to trick someone… just curious

90. sexysoccergal 06.18.2010

    are you really nia??