I wrote the following poem in 2022 for a competition run by the English etymology podcast Something Rhymes with Purple, in which lexicographer Susie Dent and raconteur Gyles Brandreth—both writers, TV personalities and poetry fans—would talk about the histories of words while sharing amusing anecdotes. Every episode ended with Susie introducing three unusual words and Gyles reading a poem by a well-known writer—or sometimes an obscure one. For English language lovers, the podcast provided a lighthearted break from the woes of the world, and I’m sad that it’s no longer running.
A Purple Sonnet
When listening to Something Rhymes with Purple
I get the dishes done and don’t complain,
for Gyles and Susie’s voices never hirple1
as their erudition gently feeds my brain
with tales about how words have come to be.
Their accents almost give a nerd a crush
when Susie stretches out the end of “sea”
and Gyles pronounces Einstein with a “sh”.
And Susie loves MacNeice—my favourite too!
I must send in a poem, heed their cry!
Though sonnets aren’t the kind of poems I do,
I’ll never win the book unless I try.
Fourteen, though. Such a lot of ends to rhyme.
An episode on limericks next time?
Needless to say, I didn’t win the competition, although I did get an honourable mention. But winning wasn’t the point. The poem is meant as a tribute.
- A dialect word meaning limp ↩︎
Jackson 