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Some words defy the attempts of poets to find rhymes and while most mere mortals would give up in despair, American humorist and poet Ogden Nash saw them as a challenge. Two of his rhymes that come immediately to mind are for boomerang and Niagara.
| Oh kangaroo, oh kangaroo, Be grateful that you're in the zoo; You could be transmuted by a boomerang To zestful, tangy, kangaroo meringue! |
Clever! but the next one needed the title as well to manage a two line rhyming couplet.
| ADVICE TO A WOULD-BE SUICIDE Take instead of a rope, a pistol or dagger, a Desperate dash down the Falls of Niagara. |
Of course, even Ogden Nash could come unstuck occasionally as with the following:
| The one-L lama is a priest, The two-L llama is a beast; But I would bet a striped pajama You'll never find a 3-L lllama. |
It seemed a safe statement until some wag wrote in and pointed out that in the United States a major fire attracting three fire units is a "three alarmer". Hoist on his own petard!
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