verse in honour of Dr. JJ, whose love of life included comedy and the music of poetry ...
In this post, we continue with a novel form of poetic wordplay. Inspired by Japanese haiku poetry, this new form is used for a terse verse with a total of 17 syllables displayed on three lines. This concoction, however, does not mandate the precise distribution of the syllables among the three lines, but does stipulate that each word in the poem be included in a palindromic phrase or sentence in English (i.e. one that can be read either forwards or backwards). Some of the palindromes exploited here are found in the classic repertoire of such wordplay, part are variants on these classics, and a part derive entirely from the distorted mental processes of the authors.
To help the reader discern the origin of the lyrics, each palindrome (generally occupying one of the three lines of the poem) has been color-coded.
Further poetic discussion of Dennis's sins can be found HERE.
You can view all our verses of this type if you proceed with a single click to our more encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE. (Or if you prefer, you can stay on this particular blogsite and look for the offerings for the 17th day of each month -- there are now more than 60 of these.)
Incidental Photo:
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Dr. JJ starting out as a lecturer, 1948
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