100,000,000,000,000 poems

At five precisely out went La Marquise
When masons clutch the breath we held on loan
Old corned-beef's rusty armour spreads disease
The thumb- and finger-prints of Al Capone
O Parthenon you hold the charger's strings
Rejecting ermine to become a knave
An icicle of frozen marrow pings
Thou homestead hillside woodland rock and cave
It's no good rich men crying Heaven Bless
A bird-brain banquet melts bold Mistress Mog
Poor Yorick comes to bury not address
Lobsters for sale must be our apologue
And let you off from your opinions glum
For Europe's glory while Fate's harpies strum


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.