100,000,000,000,000 poems

When one with t'other straightaway agrees
His exaltation shocked both youth and crone
Forms shadowy with indecision wheeze
'Ere meanings new to ancient tribes are thrown
And yet 'twas he the beggar Fate just flings
That metred rhyme alone can souls enslave
The fertile mother changelings drops like kings
As sleeping-bags the silent landscape pave
Poetic licence needs no strain or stress
And starve the sniveling baby like a dog
Watching manure and compost coalesce
One misses cricket hearth and croaking frog
Ventriloquists be blowed you strike me dumb
The bell tolls fee-less fi-less fo-less fum


Raymond Queneau

Translation to English by Stanley Chapman
found in "Oulipo Compendium"
Atlas 1998, ISBN 0-947757-96-1

Idea and implementation by Magnus Bodin 1997
Produced in the wonderful country of Sweden.