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At snuff no Cornish sailorman would sneeze
His exaltation shocked both youth and crone
Her native chauffeur waited in the breeze
Normal one aims to be and share the throne
Old Galileo's Pisan offerings
That metred rhyme alone can souls enslave
They both are right not unformed smatterings
Victorious worms grind all into the grave
Poetic licence needs no strain or stress
Shallots and sharks'fins face the smould'ring log
Socrates watched his hemlock effervesce
Lobsters for sale must be our apologue
Do bank clerks rule their abacus by thumb
They're kings we're mammal-cousins hi ho hum


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.