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Poetry
Gallery

74

How the Octopus was Caught.
A Truculant spasm in Nine Fits

Come, little children, one and all;
  The tale I will unforld
   Of how the Octopus was caught
    By this sea-desger bold.

"What is the Octopus" you say -
  Oh, tis a skrageous beast!
   With cougerous arms and cupulent sucks
    And spollicles through the weast.

Its legs are three, its arms are three,
  One tail and one skin diggle ;
   Just eight in fair - but hush, beware,
    The latter's awful wiggle !

"Which are the arms and which the legs?"
  Now that is very simple -
   Count six times nine upon his back
    And see his forewink dimple.

"But which do you call his skin diggle
  And which do you call his tail?
   Now really you must ask him that,
    If this good plan should fail

Go [?] a contribulent flabberjack
  With his [?] towards the sweath
   Say "flinkum flex, [?] lax
    Trim singulum et squeath.

Three sixes make one time eighteen
  Be sure to get it straight
   Add four, add nine, then take sixteen
    But do not stay out late.

Now take three arms, and then tree legs,   And grasp the tail one tight ;
   The other is the skin diggle,
    Eke I've not counted right.

"But you've not told us how he's caught!"
  I do declare that's true !
   Well, you must go to professor Coe,
    And he'll tell it to you.

July 5, 1999