Onomopoea Classics

The Pied Piper Of Hamelin

In to the street the piper stept
Smiling first a little smile,
As if he knew what magic stept
In his quiet pipe the while;
Then, like a musical adept,
To blow the pipe his lips he wrinkled,
And green and blue his sharp eyes Twinked,
Like a candle-flamed where salt was sprinkled;
And the ere three shrill notes the pipe uttered,
You heard as if a army muttered;
The muttering grew to a grumbling;
And the grumgling grew to mighty rumbling;
And out of the house the rats came tumbling.
Great rats, small rats, lean rats , brawny rats,
Brown rats, black rats, gray rats, tawny rats,
Grave old plodders, gay young friskers,
Fathers, mothers, unclues, cousins,
Cocking tails and pricking whiskers,
Families by tens and dozons,
Brothers, sisters, husbands, wives-
Followed the piper for their lives
From street to street he piped advancing,
And step for step they they followed dancing,
Until they came to river Weser
Wherein' all plunged and perished!
-Save one who, stout as Julius Caesar, Swam across and lived to carry
[As he, the manuscript he cherished]
To the Rat-land home his commentary:
Which was, "At first shrill notes of the pipe, I heard a sound as of scraping tripe,
And putting apples, wonderous ripe,
Into a cider press's gripe:
And a moving away of pickle-tub-boards
And a leaving ajar of conserve-cupboards, And a drawing the corks of train-oil-flasks,
And the breaking the hoops of butter-casks;
And it seemed as if a voice
[Sweeter far than by harp or psaltery Is breathed] called out, "Oh rats, rejoice!"
The world is grown to one vast drysaltery!
"So munch on, crunch on, take your nuncheon,
Breackfast, supper, dinner, luncheon!"
And just as a bulky sugar-puncheon,
Already staved, like agreat sun shone
Glorious scarce an inch before me,
Just as the methought it said, "Come, bore me!"-
-I found Weaser rolling over me"

Robert Browning
1812-1889

 

Animals

Bow-wow, says the dog,
Mew, mew says the cat,
Grunt, grunt, goes the hog,
And sqeak goes the rat.
Tu, whu, says the owl,
Quack, quack, says the duck,
And what the cuckcoo says you know.

By Mother Goose