My limericks

[Jules Levin]

On 5/30/2012 2:06 PM, Charles E. Townsend wrote:
>
> Although I haven't been very active in our field for a while, a few 
> months ago I started composing limericks in my head while on walks to 
> help me recover from orthopedic trouble. It's become quite a pastime, 
> and I think I've gotten rather good at it. I've written more than 200, 
> including maybe 50 in Russian and Czech, some of which have gotten 
> very good reception from my Czech and Russian friends and other 
> colleagues in the field. All insist that they should appear somewhere. 
> I copy some Russian and Czech ones below, along with some in English 
> about the Slavic field and then two about Horace Lunt. They're sort of 
> lightly humorous things; none of them are off-color. I have a lot more 
> limericks in all three languages and some in German and French as well.
A great contribution to paraSlavic studies!  It reminded me of a similar 
creative effort.  Decades ago at the front desk of the Slavic dept at 
UCLA, someone posted parody lyrics to Sam Cooke's Wonderful World:  
"/Don't know much/ about /history/. /Don't know much/ biology. /Don't 
know much/ about a science book *..."  Of course the parody lyrics all 
referred to topics that Slavic grad students studied.  It would be a 
wonderful world if someone on our list still had those lyrics and would 
share them!
Jules Levin
Los Angeles
*




>
> Susan Kresin has just asked me if I have sent any of my limericks for 
> consideration for the AATSEEL Newsletter (some of my Czech ones are to 
> appear in her Czech Language News). I wonder if the Newsletter would 
> be interested in publishing some.
>
> I sent the two limericks about Horace Lunt, my former mentor when I 
> got my PhD and taught at Harvard, to Cindy Vakarelijska for inclusion 
> in the festschrift for Lunt they are planning. Their committee liked 
> them but thought, unsurprisingly, that the volume was too serious to 
> include them, so they suggested that I investigate posting them 
> elsewhere.
>
> Please let me know what you think, and thanks in advance for your 
> trouble. Feel free to call if you have any questions. Hope it all 
> isn't too much to read through. Just a few will give you a clear idea 
> of what the limericks are like.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Charles E.Townsend
> Professor Emeritus of Slavic Languages
> Princeton University
>
> 145 Hickory Court
> Princeton, NJ 08540
> 609-921-8472
> e-mail: townsend at princeton.edu
>
>
> */RUSSIAN LANGUAGE/*
>
>
> Недавно я принял решение
> Исследовать русское спряжение.
> Но без доступа к гиду
> К глагольному виду
> Я решил перейти на склонение.
>
>
> Числительные – это беда.
> Но кое-что знаю слегка.
> От одного по сто
> Да еще девяноста
> Но кто поймет сорок - сорока?
>
>
> В русском ведь логики нет.
> Грамматика его –винегрет.
> Структура – мистерия,
> Настанет истерия.
> Ведь знаю из нее лишь скелет.
>
>
> В бою против злых языков
> Обойтись нам нельзя без штыков.
> Сколько ни мучимся,
> Им не научимся.
> Перейдем лучше к бою быков.
>
>
> Русский язык изучаю
>
> Пять лет, и я хорошо знаю,
>
> Что язык он столь трудный,
>
> Что хожу как сын блудный
>
> И пятерки вряд ли получаю.
>
>
>
> */CZECH LANGUAGE/*
>
>
> Přestože mám rád český lid,
>
> V tom jazycenenajdu klid.
> Česká konjugace
>
> To není legrace,
> A nesnáším slovesný vid.
>
>
> Svatá jsi Ty, česká řeč
>
> Jsi naše ochrana a meč
>
> Všechny aktivity
>
> Obětujeme Ti
>
> Až přijde poslední křeč.
>
> Bojuji s Tebou, řeč česká.
>
> Strašně se dřu až do dneska.
>
> Až Tě konečně zvládnu
>
> A na Tvém poli padnu,
>
> Má smrt bude náramně hezká!
>
>
>
> */SLAVIC FIELD/*
>
>
> Be sure to abjure the sledgehammer
>
> When you teach transformational grammar.
>
> Cutting down all those trees
>
> May seem like a breeze,
>
> But you could wind up in the slammer.
>
>
> If you’re majoring in Russian lit.
>
> Stick close to the old nitty grit.
>
> If you bet all your horses
>
> On non-primary sources
>
> You could wind up in lit crit.
>
>
>
> All hail to Slavic linguistics.
>
> According to all my statistics,
>
> When Jakobson speaks
>
> Every girl student shrieks,
>
> And the guys go simply ballistics.
>
>
>
>
> /*HORACE LUNT*/
>
>
>
> Прославленным будь наш Горас.
>
> Ведь был взором многим из нас.
>
> Наш славянкий удел
> Он возвысить сумел.
> Наше стадо он всю жизнь пас.
>
>
>
> All hail to Horace Gray Lunt!
> And though he could sometimes be blunt,
> Let's all join the chorus
> For our fabled Horace.
> His students all placed far in front.
>
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