Seven Double Dactyls
HIGH RENAISSANCE
“Nomine Domini,
Thcotokopoulos,
None of these prelates can
Manage your name.
Thcotokopoulos,
None of these prelates can
Manage your name.
“Change it: appeal to their
Hellenophilia:
Sign it ‘El Greco’; I’ll
Slap on a frame.”
Hellenophilia:
Sign it ‘El Greco’; I’ll
Slap on a frame.”
MONARCH OF THE SEA
Jiminy Whillikers,
Admiral Samuel
Eliot Morison,
Where is your ship?
Admiral Samuel
Eliot Morison,
Where is your ship?
I am the HMS
Historiography’s
Disciplinarian;
Button your lip.
Historiography’s
Disciplinarian;
Button your lip.
SAID
Agatha Christie to
E. Phillips Oppenheim,
“Who is this Hemingway,
Who is this Proust?
E. Phillips Oppenheim,
“Who is this Hemingway,
Who is this Proust?
“Who is this Vladimir
Whatchamacallit, this
Neopostrealist
Rabble?” she groused.
Whatchamacallit, this
Neopostrealist
Rabble?” she groused.
SAID
J. William Fulbright to
Mario Savio,
“Kid, you got promise, but
For the long haul
Mario Savio,
“Kid, you got promise, but
For the long haul
“Try to look owlish and
Semibespectaclcd;
Cultivate pipes and a
Know-nothing drawl.”
Semibespectaclcd;
Cultivate pipes and a
Know-nothing drawl.”
SAID
Dame Edith Evans to
Margaret Rutherford,
“Seance? Oh really, my
Dear, if there be
“Nonhypothetical
Extraterrestrial
Parapsychologists,
They can call me.”
Extraterrestrial
Parapsychologists,
They can call me.”
SAID
J. Alfred Prufrock to
Hugh Selwyn Mauberly,
“What ever happened to
Senlin? Ought-nine.”
“One with the passion for
Orientalia?”
“Rather.” “Lost track of him.”
“Pity.” “Design.”
Orientalia?”
“Rather.” “Lost track of him.”
“Pity.” “Design.”
ALEXANDER THE GREAT
Higgledy-piggledy,
Philip of Macedon
Gave his young son an un-
Breakable horse.
Philip of Macedon
Gave his young son an un-
Breakable horse.
Lacedaemonian
Pusillanimity
Followed therefrom as a
Matter of course.
Pusillanimity
Followed therefrom as a
Matter of course.