I thought of a riddle:
Dethrone the king, cast out the poorest
Revolution repeated summons me soonestPut the rocks in the sky and the sun in the sea
Either way 'round, I'll still be meI am (mostly) in crabs, and fish, and in birds
This way I am myself in these very wordsFastest in each of a metronome's flicks
And part of its tastiest ticks
The solution is an English word.
These are probably wrong but here are some ideas I've had revolving around....
EIGHT
King Edward VIII abdicated the throne, and King Henry VIII had bad policies casting out poor monks
A revolution (circle) repeated forms a figure eight
An eight is formed by a circle (rock) up high and a circle (sun) down low. Or the other way round
Crabs have 8 legs. No idea on fish/birds, hence probably wrong. Some might think octopuses are fish. Birds is worth 8 in Scrabble.
'This way I am myself in these words' - these words are in 8 lines
A metronome can count eighth notes
ticks (animals tasty to birds) have 8 legs
KERATIN
King dethroned = K
Poorest = RE if you cast out 'stoop', which is odd hence probably wrong
Revolution repeated = Anarchy twice = AT
'rocks in the sky', 'sun in the sea' both contain 'IN' with words around it
Crabs, fish, and birds all contain keratin, especially crabs
'a metronome's flicks' contains 'k e r a t i n' as a subset
Ticks contain keratin
CHITIN
Similar to above except even more forced, so I won't elaborate
Could it be something like
CYCLE? (I also thought of PERIOD in the same vein).
Dethrone the king, cast out the poorest
Revolution repeated summons me soonest
If the first line is a red herring, and "revolution" is meant in the sense of around a circle, then repeated revolutions could definitely lead to a cycle.
Put the rocks in the sky and the sun in the sea
Either way 'round, I'll still be me
The daily cycle, sun appearing to enter the sea at sunset? (depending on where you are) Not sure about "rocks in the sky" though.
I am (mostly) in crabs, and fish, and in birds
This way I am myself in these very words
Many birds and fish have migration cycles, and so do some crabs. There is some repetitive language (cycle-like?) in this very verse.
Fastest in each of a metronome's flicks
And part of its tastiest ticks
A metronome is of course flicking and ticking periodically on a cycle.
Is it?
Pizza
Dethrone the king, cast out the poorest
Pizza
King
Revolution repeated summons me soonest
The repeated revolutions for calling to order (summon) a pizza on a rotary phone.
Put the rocks in the sky and the sun in the sea
Putting olives as toppings and pepperoni in a sea of cheese.
Either way 'round, I'll still be me
Pizza is 360° symmetrical.
I am (mostly) in crabs, and fish, and in bird
This way I am myself in these very words
Most pizzas are meat-based. me is in meat.
Fastest in each of a metronome's flicks
And part of its tastiest ticks
Presto is one of the fastest metronomes. Pesto, which is a part of it, is one of the tastiest sauces on a pizza.
