Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Anagram Poems

I found interesting anagram poems when I searched the term ''Anagrammatic poetry" in google.

The poem below, in yellow, was written by Shel Silverstein. Below it, in rose, is an anagram of the poem created by Meyran Kraus. It scans and rhymes well, paraphrasing the original remarkably closely. Such anagrams take a lot of time and patience to produce.

The Little Boy and the Old Man
Shel Silverstein

Said the little boy, "Sometimes I drop my spoon."
Said the old man, "I do that too."
The little boy whispered, "I wet my pants."
"I do that too," laughed the little old man.
Said the little boy, "I often cry."
The old man nodded, "So do I."
"But worst of all," said the boy, "it seems
Grown-ups don't pay attention to me."
And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand.
"I know what you mean," said the little old man.


And here is the anagram poem:

The Tot and the Elder
Olin Foblioso & Billy Foblioso

The tiny tot went: "When I eat I mess up."
The elder replied: "O, that makes two of us."
"I soil myself," went the tot with shame
And the elder added: "O, I do the same."
On the tot told him: "I sob a lot."
"O, not only you," answered gramps to the tot.
"And what's totally bad," the tiny tot told,
"I think mom and dad don't love me at all."
While grandpa simply, pitiably smiled,
then said: "O, I understand, my child."


Article idea: http://www.fun-with-words.com/anag_short_long.html