Uploaded August 2013 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
A few (of my) favourite comic rhymes. Transcripts below.
For MrAndroidThePoet.
Go on, give him a click:
youtube.com/user/MrAndroidThePoet
ANT AND ELEPH-ANT
Said a tiny Ant
To the Elephant,
'Mind how you tread in this clearing!'
But alas! Cruel fate!
She was crushed by the weight
Of an Elephant, hard of hearing.
-Spike Milligan
poemhunter.com/spike-milligan
MASHED POTATO/LOVE POEM
If I ever had to choose between you
and a third helping on mashed potato,
(whipped lightly with a fork
not whisked,
and a little pool of butter
melting in the middle...)
I think
I'd choose
the mashed potato
But I'd choose you next.
- Sidney Hoddes
paulcarey.net/Music/Play_With_Your_Food.htm
OF PYGMIES, PALMS AND PIRATES
Of pygmies, palms and pirates,
Of islands and lagoons,
Of blood-bespottled frigates,
Of crags and octoroons,
Of whales and broken bottles,
Of quicksands cold and grey,
Of ullages and dottles,
I have no more to say.
Of barley, corn and furrows,
Of farms and turf that heaves
Above such ghostly burrows
As twitch on summer eves.
Of fallow-land and pasture,
Of skies both pink and grey,
I made a statement last year
And now have no more to say.
- Mervyn Peake
mervynpeake.org/poet.html
THE HERO
Slowly with bleeding nose and aching wrists,
After tremendous use of feet and fists
He rises from the dusty schoolroom floor
And limps for solace to the girl next door
Boasting of kicks and punches, cheers and noise,
And far worse damage done to bigger boys.
- Robert Graves
poemhunter.com/robert-graves
TOO FAST TO LIVE, TOO YOUNG TO WORK
I'm the James Dean of the dole queue
You've got to admire my cheek -
Trying to work out how to live fast and die young
on seventeen-fifty a week.
A legend in my own cubicle
All alone, not one of the mob
I'm the James Dean of the dole queue
A rebel without a job.
- Mark Jones
youtube.com/watch?v=tqaqGCyl2Kw
THE PRETTY YOUNG THING
A pretty young thing from St. Paul's
Wore a newspaper gown to a ball.
The dress caught on fire
And burned her attire
Front page, sporting section and all.
- Anonymous
youtube.com/watch?v=h3uvukT3R4Y
A few (of my) favourite comic rhymes. Transcripts below.
For MrAndroidThePoet.
Go on, give him a click:
youtube.com/user/MrAndroidThePoet
ANT AND ELEPH-ANT
Said a tiny Ant
To the Elephant,
'Mind how you tread in this clearing!'
But alas! Cruel fate!
She was crushed by the weight
Of an Elephant, hard of hearing.
-Spike Milligan
poemhunter.com/spike-milligan
MASHED POTATO/LOVE POEM
If I ever had to choose between you
and a third helping on mashed potato,
(whipped lightly with a fork
not whisked,
and a little pool of butter
melting in the middle...)
I think
I'd choose
the mashed potato
But I'd choose you next.
- Sidney Hoddes
paulcarey.net/Music/Play_With_Your_Food.htm
OF PYGMIES, PALMS AND PIRATES
Of pygmies, palms and pirates,
Of islands and lagoons,
Of blood-bespottled frigates,
Of crags and octoroons,
Of whales and broken bottles,
Of quicksands cold and grey,
Of ullages and dottles,
I have no more to say.
Of barley, corn and furrows,
Of farms and turf that heaves
Above such ghostly burrows
As twitch on summer eves.
Of fallow-land and pasture,
Of skies both pink and grey,
I made a statement last year
And now have no more to say.
- Mervyn Peake
mervynpeake.org/poet.html
THE HERO
Slowly with bleeding nose and aching wrists,
After tremendous use of feet and fists
He rises from the dusty schoolroom floor
And limps for solace to the girl next door
Boasting of kicks and punches, cheers and noise,
And far worse damage done to bigger boys.
- Robert Graves
poemhunter.com/robert-graves
TOO FAST TO LIVE, TOO YOUNG TO WORK
I'm the James Dean of the dole queue
You've got to admire my cheek -
Trying to work out how to live fast and die young
on seventeen-fifty a week.
A legend in my own cubicle
All alone, not one of the mob
I'm the James Dean of the dole queue
A rebel without a job.
- Mark Jones
youtube.com/watch?v=tqaqGCyl2Kw
THE PRETTY YOUNG THING
A pretty young thing from St. Paul's
Wore a newspaper gown to a ball.
The dress caught on fire
And burned her attire
Front page, sporting section and all.
- Anonymous
youtube.com/watch?v=h3uvukT3R4Y
