Eletelephony, by Shel Silverstein
From "Where The Sidewalk Ends"
once there was an elephant
who tried to use the telephant;
no no, I mean an elephone
who tried to use the telephone.
(Dear me I am not certain quite
that even now i've got it right)
how e'r it was he got his trunk
entangled in the telephunk
the more he tried to get it free,
the louder buzzed the telephee.
(i fear i'd better quit this song
of elehop and telephong.)
--------------------------------------------------
One can think of this as nonsense, to make a five year old giggle. But let's read it aloud once in a while, so that gems like this are not lost.
once there was an elephant
who tried to use the telephant;
no no, I mean an elephone
who tried to use the telephone.
(Dear me I am not certain quite
that even now i've got it right)
how e'r it was he got his trunk
entangled in the telephunk
the more he tried to get it free,
the louder buzzed the telephee.
(i fear i'd better quit this song
of elehop and telephong.)
--------------------------------------------------
One can think of this as nonsense, to make a five year old giggle. But let's read it aloud once in a while, so that gems like this are not lost.
posted by Greg Finnegan @ 6:05 PM
4 Comments:
At 9:18 PM,
Unknown said…
I remember reading that in grade school!
At 11:11 PM,
Greg Finnegan said…
Yes, me too! The days we read stuff like that were truly wonderful. I'm saving Lewis Carroll's for another post:
"Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe."
-Greg
At 3:02 PM,
Anonymous said…
"Eletelphony" isn't by Shel Silverstein. It's by Laura E. Richards.
Let's give credit where credit's due!
You can check "Eletelephony" at Wikipedia for a quick confirmation.
At 3:23 AM,
Unknown said…
[ edit poem ]
Eletelephony
Once there was an elephant,
Who tried to use the telephant—
No! no! I mean an elephone
Who tried to use the telephone—
(Dear me! I am not certain quite
That even now I've got it right.)
Howe'er it was, he got his trunk
Entangled in the telephunk;
The more he tried to get it free,
The louder buzzed the telephee—
(I fear I'd better drop the song
Of elephop and telephong!)
© Laura Elizabeth Richards.
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