As we are Shakespeare lovers in my family (especially
my husband, who has written a middle-grade time travel adventure about Shakespeare), this is particularly wonderful:
Shakespeare's version of the Hokey Pokey
O proud left foot, that ventures quick within
Then soon upon a backward journey lithe.
Anon, once more the gesture, then begin:
Command sinistral pedestal to writhe.
Commence thou then the fervid Hokey-Poke,
A mad gyration, hips in wanton swirl.
To spin! A wilde release from Heavens yoke.
Blessed dervish! Surely canst go, girl.
The Hoke, the poke -- banish now thy doubt
Verily, I say, 'tis what it's all about.
-- by William Shakespeare
(Jeff Brechlin)
Brechlin wrote this little ditty as part of
a contest sponsored by the Washington Post in 2003.
Here's another one I especially enjoyed:
Warning on a tobacco pack by Gilbert & Sullivan:
This warning issues from a model modern Surgeon-general
Who wishes that your stay on Earth might be not so ephemeral
As mascot Joe, that smoking
hyperactive dromedary who
Succumbed to fatal illness, cardiac and pulmonary too . . .
--Stephen Fahey and Jeff Brechlin)
Jeff Brechlin, I like your style!
