Tuesday, April 12, 2011

And now for something completely different: Dungeon Ditty

With all due credit to the mastery of Wind in the Willows author Kenneth Grahame, I present my dungeon version of Ratty's Ducks' Ditty.

Dungeon Ditty

All along the corridors, and
Through the ancient halls
Monsters are a-wandering:
Out swords, all!

Giant rats, flail snails,
Umber hulks a-quiver;
Kuo-Toa out of sight,
Lurking in the river.

Slushy green slime awaits
'neath the idol's grin:
This, the demon's larder,
Is deep and cold and grim.

Hirelings form, and level pikes!
What do we see?
Serried ranks of skeletons,
Three by three

High above the surface,
Rocs whirl and call,
We are down a-dungeoning,
Out swords all!

(I take full responsibility for the above nonsense).

The actual Ducks' Ditty is:

All along the backwater,
Through the rushes tall,
Ducks are a-dabbling,
Up tails all!

Ducks' tails, drakes' tails,
Yellow feet a-quiver,
Yellow bills all out of sight
Busy in the river!

Slushy green undergrowth
Where the roach swim—
Here we keep our larder,
Cool and full and dim.

Everyone for what he likes!
We
like to be
Heads down, tails up,
Dabbling free!

High in the blue above
Swifts whirl and call—
We
are down a-dabbling
Up tails all!

Kenneth Grahame

1 comment:

  1. Excellent stuff, there should be more of it.

    ReplyDelete