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Further nonsense verse and prose

Chapter 13: THE DEAR GAZELLE
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About This Book

A varied collection of short pieces that mixes nonsense verse, limericks, parodies, acrostics, playful correspondence, and brief comic prose. Poems range from brisk, absurd ditties to more measured, mildly melancholic lyrics, while prose items include mock-serious essays on manners, whimsical imaginings, and light mathematical or logical pastiches. The pieces rely on inventive wordplay, paradox, and satire of social convention, shifting between ear-catching rhythms and conversational wit. Arranged as a miscellany, the work emphasizes formal experimentation and a childlike playfulness tempered by occasional gentle reflection.

THE DEAR GAZELLE


Arranged with Variations


expressive
“I never loved a dear gazelle,”
Nor aught beside that cost me much:
High prices profit those that sell,
But why should I be fond of such?
pp. cresc.
“To glad me with his soft black eyes,”
My infant son, from Tooting School,
Thrashed by his bigger playmate, flies;
And serve him right, the little fool!
con spirito
a tempo
“But when he came to know me well,”
He kicked me out, her testy sire;
And when I stained my hair, that Bell
Might note the change, and that admire.
dim. D.C.
cadenza
“And love me, it was sure to die.”
A muddy green, or staring blue,
While one might trace, with half an eye,
The still triumphant carrot through.
con dolore