Bleezer's Ice Cream -- Jack Prelutsky

Once again, posting on Martin's behalf:

(Poem #1055) Bleezer's Ice Cream I am Ebenezer Bleezer, I run BLEEZER'S ICE CREAM STORE, there are flavors in my freezer you have never seen before, twenty-eight divine creations too delicious to resist, why not do yourself a favor, try the flavors on my list: COCOA MOCHA MACARONI TAPIOCA SMOKED BALONEY CHECKERBERRY CHEDDAR CHEW CHICKEN CHERRY HONEYDEW TUTTI-FRUTTI STEWED TOMATO TUNA TACO BAKED POTATO LOBSTER LITCHI LIMA BEAN MOZZARELLA MANGOSTEEN ALMOND HAM MERINGUE SALAMI YAM ANCHOVY PRUNE PASTRAMI SASSAFRAS SOUVLAKI HASH SUKIYAKI SUCCOTASH BUTTER BRICKLE PEPPER PICKLE POMEGRANATE PUMPERNICKEL PEACH PIMENTO PIZZA PLUM PEANUT PUMPKIN BUBBLEGUM BROCCOLI BANANA BLUSTER CHOCOLATE CHOP SUEY CLUSTER AVOCADO BRUSSELS SPROUT PERIWINKLE SAUERKRAUT COTTON CANDY CARROT CUSTARD CAULIFLOWER COLA MUSTARD ONION DUMPLING DOUBLE DIP TURNIP TRUFFLE TRIPLE FLIP GARLIC GUMBO GRAVY GUAVA LENTIL LEMON LIVER LAVA ORANGE OLIVE BAGEL BEET WATERMELON WAFFLE WHEAT I am Ebenezer Bleezer, I run BLEEZER'S ICE CREAM STORE, taste a flavor from my freezer, you will surely ask for more. -- Jack Prelutsky

"Bleezer's Ice Cream" is one of those rare, perfect children's poems that it
is my occasional pleasure to stumble across. It's not too hard to see why it
works so well. The name "Ebenezer Bleezer" is both nicely comical and nicely
euphonious, so "I am Ebenezer Bleezer" gets the poem off to a good start
right away. The whole first verse, though, is nothing more than a prologue,
an introduction to the real meat of the poem. I refer, of course, to the
wonderfully zany list of twenty-eight "flavours", a catalogue of food
combinations whose appeal lies in their grossness as much as in their
playful metre and rhymes. I'll leave you to look up some of the weirder
foods on your own :)

-martin

Links:

  Here's a biography of Prelutsky:
    [broken link] http://www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?prmID=69

  I am reminded of the Centipede's song from Dahl's 'James and the Giant
  Peach':
    http://www.qu-i-x.com/eaten.html

  And from the credit-where-due department, I discovered the poem in the
  following, well-chosen collection:
    http://gobinpoetry.homestead.com/Home.html

The Diatonic Dittymunch -- Jack Prelutsky

Guest poem submitted by M. E. Lasseter:

(Poem #899) The Diatonic Dittymunch The Diatonic Dittymunch plucked music from the air, He swallowed scores of symphonies and still had space to spare. Sonatas and cantatas slithered sweetly down his throat; He made ballads into salads and consumed them note by note. He ate marches and mazurkas, he ate rhapsodies and reels, Minuets and tarantellas were the staples of his meals. But the Diatonic Dittymunch outdid himself one day: He ate a three-act opera -- And LOUDLY passed away. -- Jack Prelutsky

I rather like the "monsters" theme that has evolved over the past few days,
so I thought I'd contribute one of my favorite monster poems. While perhaps
not as terrifying as the Kraken or Grendel (or even the Jabberwock), to a
composer or a musician, the Diatonic Dittymunch would certainly be awful to
behold.

It's thought-inspiring to see Prelutsky's alliteration, and the way he
manipulates music-form titles into a comfortable rhythm is comparable to Tom
Lehrer's sorting the names of the chemical elements to the tune of the
"Modern Major-General" song from Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of
Penzance.

from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:

Diatonic
Function: adjective
Etymology: Late Latin diatonicus, from Greek diatonikos, from diatonos,
stretching, from diateinein to stretch out, from dia- + teinein to stretch
-- more at THIN
Date : 1694
: of or relating to a major or minor musical scale comprising intervals of
five whole steps and two half steps

from randomhouse.com:

Jack Prelutsky was born in Brooklyn, New York. He attended New York City
Public Schools and studied voice at the High School of Music and Art. He
enrolled in Hunter College in Manhattan but left soon after "to become a
beatnik."

Jack has been a cab driver, a busboy, a photographer, a furniture mover, a
potter, and a folk singer.

He enjoys bicycling, playing racquetball, woodworking and cooking. He lives
in Washington State with his wife Carolynn and a vast collection of poetry
books and frogs in every shape, size, and form -- except living!

There was a time when Jack couldn't stand poetry. In grade school he had a
teacher who left him with the impression that poetry was the literary
equivalent of liver. He rediscovered poetry in his twenties, and he decided
that he would write about things that kids really cared about, and that he
would strive to make poetry delightful.

Monsters theme:

Poem #895, W.H. Auden, "August 1968"
Poem #896, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "The Kraken"
Poem #897, Anon., "Grendel"

Minstrels links:

Poem #490, Tom Lehrer, "The Elements"
Poem #52, Lewis Carroll, "Jabberwocky"

M. E. L.