In Competition No. 3162 you were invited to submit double dactyls on stars of popular or classical music. Fans of ‘higgledy-piggledies’, as they are also known, should check out Jiggery Pokery, the terrific 1967 compendium of the form, edited by Anthony Hecht and John Hollander, who, in case anyone is wondering exactly what a double dactyl is, spells it out below:
Starting with nonsense words:
(‘Higgledy-piggledy’),Then comes a name (Making line number two); Somewhere along in the Terminal quatrain, aDidaktyliaiosWord, and we’re through.
This crowd-pleasing challenge drew a whopping entry. Honourable mentions go to Simon Balderson, Helen Zax, Jill Sharp, Iain Morley, Alex Steelsmith and Fabian Carstairs. The winners earn £15 each.
Tutti-bam! Frutti-boom!Richard Wayne PennimanHollered it ribald andBanged it out blue, Rocking America’sYouth to new rhythms ofErotogenicalWop-bop-a-loo! Chris O’Carroll
Rumblebee-bumblebeeN. Rimsky-Korsakov,Greatly inspired by aBeehive he’d seen, Gave us a paean toHyperactivity,Perfect for string sectionsHigh on caffeine.Max Gutmann
Fiscally, discally,Herbert von Karajan’sFortune was forged with theBerliner Phil. Countless recordings, allUltra-phenomenal,Made ‘Cash-and-Karajan’Wealthier still. Sylvia Fairley
Opera popera Handel, George Frideric Buried in Westminster, Never did wed. Sick of his music played Uninterruptedly At every bridal, stayed Single instead.Janine Beacham
Crotchetty-blotchettyRobert A. Zimmerman,Zeitgeist-apologistSon of Duluth; Edgy, mercurial,Counter-intuitive,Dylan emphaticallyRedefined youth.Mike Morrison
Ooh-Wakka-Doo-Wakka: Gilbert O’Sullivan! Cap and short trousers, he Had much to say. Quirkily, perkily, Uncontroversially, Not uncommercially: Doo-Wakka-Day!David Silverman
Abbaly DabbalyAgnetha Anderssonhaltingly told us thewinner takes all. Forty years later her vulnerabilitystill keeps her listeners inAgnetha’s thrall.Nick MacKinnon
Opera poperaGilbert and SullivanFurnished the frolics onPinafore’s decks. How to define them though,Musicologically?Rather like Offenbach,Minus the sex.George Simmers
Do-re-mi, So-re-mi,Rodgers and HammersteinWrote of Maria andBaron von Trapp. If you can pardon myIdiosyncrasy:World’s greatest musical?I think it’s crap.Nicholas Hodgson
No. 3165: between the lines
You are invited to supply a job reference for a well-known public figure, past or present (please specify), that while seemingly positive reveals the failings of the candidate in question. Please email entries of up to 150 words to lucy@spectator.co.uk by midday on 2 September.
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