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#2013 05/09/00 10:55 AM
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Does anyone have any examples of silly poems, other than the ubiquitous limerick? I offer a Double Dactyl:

Higgledy piggledy,
Ludwig von Beethoven,
Bored by requests for some
Music to hum,

Finally answered with
Oversimplicity,
"Here's my Fifth Symphony:
Dah-dah-dah-dum."


#2014 05/09/00 11:51 AM
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One which I remember (imperfectly) from my schooldays is:

My son, Augustus, off to school one day
Was feeling quite particularly merry
When someone asked him: "What's the quickest way
To get to [Highgate] Cemetery?"
"The quickest way!" replied my little Gus
And shoved the fellow underneath a bus.

Does anyone have a correct (!) version or an author for this?

The other important question to ask, of course, is why has this piece of doggerel stayed with me for nearly 50 years?


#2015 05/09/00 01:51 PM
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one of the questions which never fails to annoy me is of the sort, "Is there any word that rhymes with silver?"; thus I was overjoyed when I discovered this:

To find a rhyme for silver
Or any other "rhymeless" rhyme
Requires only will, ver-
bosity, and time.

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#2016 05/09/00 01:54 PM
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here's another I used on my web site:

strange new words I relish
like nectar or tonic
I now know my line printer
is boustrophedonic

David P. Stern
Science magazine



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#2017 05/10/00 07:13 PM
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I used to laugh uproariously at this when I was about three. It still raises a chuckle, more than half a centuy later!

The other day upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today;
I really wish he'd go away!


#2018 05/10/00 08:14 PM
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apropos of most anything:

"Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,
A medley of extemporanea;
And love is a thing that can never go wrong;
And I am Marie of Roumania."
-Dorothy Parker



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#2019 05/14/00 12:13 PM
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In the interests of accurate citation, my memory has just dredged up the final two lines of "Augustus":

I will say this about my son,
He does enjoy a bit of fun.

There, I feel better now!


#2020 05/18/00 02:35 PM
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Dredged from my memory of at least 60 years ago:

'Twas midnight on the ocean,
not a streetcar was in sight
and the sun was shining brightly
for it rained all day that night.

'Twas a summer's day in winter
and the snow was raining fast
as a barefoot boy with shoes on
stood sitting on the grass.

That's all I remember of that one but that in turn, turned up another one. I've lost the beginning and all I remember right now is:

. . . . .
As the sexton rang the church bell, lard was rendered by the choir.
While the ______________, someone set the church on fire.
"Holy Smoke!" the preacher shouted, as he madly tore his hair.
Now his head resembles heaven, for there is no parting there!


#2021 05/18/00 03:17 PM
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Yesterday upon the stair
I met a man who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today --
I think he's from the CIA.

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#2022 05/18/00 03:20 PM
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My father peddles opium, my mother's on the dole
My sister used to walk the streets but now she's on parole
My brother runs a restaurant with a bedroom in the rear
But they don't even speak to me 'cause I'm an engineer
--From the MIT "Engineer's drinking song"

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