100,000,000,000,000 poems

At snuff no Cornish sailorman would sneeze
His exaltation shocked both youth and crone
Old corned-beef's rusty armour spreads disease
Normal one aims to be and share the throne
The roundabout eats profits made on swings
When flame a form to wrath ancestral gave
They both are right not unformed smatterings
Etruscan words which Greece and Rome engrave
Poetic licence needs no strain or stress
A piercint wit would sprightliest horses flog
The colonel's still escutcheoned in undress
Southern baroque's seductive dialogue
The Taj Mahal has trinkets spice and gum
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.