WORD PLAY (continued 2)

I’m but a little letter, still I have my duties to fulfil; If off you take My tail, and make An alteration in my lot, Though I seem shorter I am not.

Says Tom to Bill, “Pray tell me, sir, Why is it that the devil, In spite of all his naughty ways, Can never be uncivil?” Says Bill to Tom, “The answer’s plain To any mind that’s bright; Because the ... .’ ........, sir, Cannot be ... .’ .....!”

Beneath the ..... which shade the lawn Her bicycle she mounted, And with a ....., ere she had gone An hour, ten ..... she counted. It rained, it snowed, but nought could stop her, Till in the ..... she came a cropper!

A woman’s name Of foreign fame, Hers was a noble mind. Now, sir, transpose, And I suppose No smaller thing you’ll find.

Pour avoir mon premier Femme qui cache mon dernier Manque souvent mon entier.

Let go! let go! you naughty first, Or you will make my second; A stream of words will then outburst, Swift as my whole is reckoned.

My first is first when cruisers charge in line, And oft in frosty skies is seen to shine. Don’t spare my second if you would suggest To an impulsive child the way that’s best. My sporting whole, though now neglected grown, Travelled by tube before the tube was known.

First of men we lead a measure, Last we end the same. Starting merrily, our pleasure Is to finish lame.

Mon premier est un tyran, mon second un horreur, Mon tout est le diable lui-même. Mais si mon premier est bon, mon second ne fait rien, Et mon tout est le bonheur suprême.

In youth exalted high in air, Or bathing in the streamlet fair, Nature to form me took delight And clothed my body all in white; My person tall and slender waist On either side with fringes graced; Till me that tyrant Man espied, And dragg’d me from my mother’s side. No wonder that I look so thin, The monster stripp’d me to the skin; My body flay’d, my hair he cropp’d, And head and foot both off he lopp’d; And then, with heart more hard than stone, Pick’d all the marrow from my bone. To vex me more, he took a freak To slit my tongue, and make me speak. But that which wonderful appears, I speak to eyes and not to ears. All languages I now command Yet not a word I understand.

The ship rode in an ....... bay, Asleep ...... the master lay. A ..... and rugged man was he And, like a .... at home at sea. Like swooping ... he caught his prey Whene’er an .. came his way. But while due . the needle kept He in his cabin lay and slept.

When the tempest roars the loudest Oft my first a shelter proves. Say what fair one, though the proudest, Spurns my next from one she loves? When the storms of life are past Earth provides my whole at last.

One syllable, I help to turn the scale Of party strife or faction; Recast me, and two syllables avail To stop all further action.

HNLDTWRSTHGLMWL THLVSTTHTTHLVSTTHWL RNLDKSRHLLWTN SLSTSSLMNSNDSLN SMRNFLNNLVSTG RFRHTNGHWLSTKNW

I’m free to-day, the old sire said, O no cell now have I to dread; For this one happy day to me Are glen and hill and forest free. I, if I will, can ride, or fish, A pit can enter, if I wish, In search of chalk or sand. In peace alone I now can dine, And sing to Anna’s lute at nine, Nor fear a reprimand.

My first transposed becomes a name Which may quite mean be reckoned, Two syllables combine the same, With one or two for second. My whole when fields are fresh and green, And softly blows the wind, Where the first signs of spring are seen Within the woods we find.

Silent long is the wood-bird’s song, Bare is the woodland bough; For waving trees in wintry breeze Have “no buds now.”

A farmer with children sixteen Killed the fattest young lamb of his flock. To divide it these children between, What must be the time by the clock?

To the far end of any train Hitch on a pair of neddies; Then you will hear, like steps of Cain, The threat that in their tread is.

Take all the alphabet and cast Its final letter out; Then set the first where was the last, And this you bring about: Without a cook, without a fire, A dainty dish which men desire.

My second with my first we greet; My whole in earlier days Gave understanding to the feet That moved in tragic plays.

In any coward’s company you find That I have place. Cut off my head, and from your mind All wrong erase.

My first elect among the few, Chooses my second to expose his view. 1. Of various colours, changed at will, 1. I sit or stand for good or ill. 2. I rule alone from noon till night, 2. And when I am not am is right.

Let her be or beat her, Give her little ease; Then in safety seat her All among the bees!

“We,” cried my first and second, “Are not quite satisfied.” “The story may be reckoned Imperfect,” fourth replied. Said third, “The fact indeed I tell,” And so at last all ended well.

My first and second are as best they should be, My third in Latin mouth is what it would be. My whole would soon be ashes if it could be.

Since Spooks, a ...... man is he, ...... this haunted house to me, In ...... funk I ...... round, And fear a ghost in every sound!

My first is never far away, My next in Latin found; My third may rage by night or day; All make melodious sound.

Through the ...... trees Softly coo the doves; Let a ...... breeze ...... youthful loves!

At starting, half your income take, Then for my second write; And let your table help to make The total cosy quite.

My whole is a circle complete, Beheaded I fall to your feet. Behead me again and I fry, Or am baked in a savoury pie.

If my whole by my second and first you divide, One more than ten thousand it gives. In the land of my birth I have dwindled and died, In museums my memory lives.

Though never present, I appear, Of perfect form a token; And all that centres round my ear Is heard, though never spoken.

Behead me twice, and it shall be That I my perfect self regain; Restore both heads and you shall see That most perfect I remain.

Grant, lady, grant your ..... his whim, And give the coming ..... to him, For this will ..... his jealous heart, Stricken so sore by Cupid’s dart. If not he ..... his hands of you, To seek fresh ..... and pastures new.

“Yes, yes, I know,” said Jack to Jill, “That thirty-two is freezing-point; And I can tell you, if you will, Exactly what is squeezing-point!”

To fifty add a third of one, A third to five attach; You have the means, when this is done, To kindle any match.

The untrained .......... in the City Is robbed by .......... without pity.

My first is quite a sin by name, My third its simple cure; My second puts an end to fame, My whole of ease is sure.

Cut off my head, it is unshaken, Cut off my tail, you turn it round; But if both head and tail are taken, Unconquered still I hold my ground.

Why should we quarrel, First and Third, With nought between us but a word? Let Third leave Second unessayed To heal the breach these letters made. If your solution be but fair You find my whole disjointed there.

In haunted house to sleep I tried My dread first was my chum. “With second of my first,” I cried, “My whole I should become.”

My first is possessive and second; My second possessive and first. Such banks most attractive are reckoned By those for rich treasure athirst.

The ..... of Shakespeare and of song Have fair and dainty features; But she I ..... my hopes upon Excels those lovely creatures. From ..... she ..... her name so dear, She lives on ..... and honey; She cannot ..... but she can steer, And Madeline has money.

My first your bosom friend, or man or maid, Whom you can trust, secure and unafraid. My second, sounded double, tells of fate, Or sounded single puts an end to hate. My whole a hall’s arched roof, or soft or hard, That lies beyond the gate with ivory barr’d.

Without my head I circulate With speed and inclination; Without my tail, at any rate, I still have circulation. Transpose three letters, in unbroken state, I then receive the ashes of the great.

Consuming lust for ....., now so rife, Like ..... ..... mars both love and life.

And as trim bees rise or go, A long aim I’d say, a libel O!

Alas, for that forgotten day When chivalry was nourish’d, When none but friars learn’d to pray, And beef and beauty flourish’d; And fraud in kings was held accursed, And falsehood sin was reckon’d, And mighty chargers bore my first, And fat monks wore my second! Ah, then I carried sword and shield And casque with flaunting feather, And earn’d my spurs in battle-field, In winter and rough weather; And polish’d many a sonnet up To ladies’ eyes and tresses; And learn’d to drain my father’s cup, And loose my falcon’s jesses! But dim is now my grandeur’s gleam, The mongrel mob grows prouder; And everything is done by steam, And men are kill’d by powder; And now I feel my swift decay, And give unheeded orders; And rot in paltry state away With sheriffs and recorders.

My first you oft savagely pierce through and through; My next harbours nonsense, and wisdom, and dust; But, oh! what disaster might chance to accrue, Should my whole, from my second, step into my first!

My whole describes the action of a gale, Decapitation makes an organ play. Behead again, it sounds o’er hill and vale; Again, it tells of what we do not pay. Take nothing off, it is an eagle’s sail. Again behead, and half a string denote; Again, and lo! a horse’s head and tail; And last of all on music’s notes I float.

Across my first, with flash and roar, The stately vessel glides alone. And mournful on the crowded shore There stands an aged crone, Watching my second’s parting smile, As he bids farewell to his native isle. My whole comes back to other eyes, With beauteous change of fruit and flowers, But dim to her are those bright skies, And sad those joyous hours; For, alas! my first is dark and deep, And my second cannot hear her weep.

When morning dawned, and the tide was out, The pair crossed over ’neath Allah’s .........., And the Arab was happy beyond a doubt, For he had the best donkey in all that §. You are wrong! They were drowned in crossing over, Though the donkey was bravest of all his ....; He luxuriates now in perpetual clover, And his master has gone to the prophet’s em⏞.

A ..... ..... on ....’. strands Caught Pat’s heart in her meshes; He left the ..... in Cupid’s hands, And watched her ..... her tresses; Tresses of ..... coloured gold, Veiling, like any frock, A tail which, as it did unfold, Gave to poor Pat a shock.

No ..... sympathy was ever shown, Than when ..... news from Kingston ..... was known.

No, no, I hardly ever touch The thing which many love so much. It has a place within these lines, But is taboo where Delia dines.

He said, “You ......” when one lied, He said, “Don’t ......” when one sped, His glass held ...... at his side; He can ...... what he denied. As all your wits “entranced” you bend To find the key omit the end.

My captive second, sulking in my first, Might surlily bemoan his fate accurst; Bemoan, or as alternative you find My whole the word that fits his state of mind. For meet enclosure, you can take a score Of captive seconds, first deducting four.

THGLBDWNWSLLLDSTFTHLT, MNFTNRDRNRGTNNTHSPT.

Who knows the .... a land may know Famed for its ...., and long ago A .... of sage and seer. The native there, so full of tricks, To .... his hunger .... with sticks, Nor knows his ways are queer!

If doubled you would see my first Let third and second be reversed. But if my last you would behold Increase my first a hundredfold. Combine them all, and you can trace The four within an empty space.

My first is small, and seldom reverential; My next not large enough to heed or prize; My whole is altogether consequential; My third, though small, is counted very wise.

In swift ...... the beaters add Fresh ...... to the heaps of slain; And still, with lust of slaughter mad, The ...... plies his hand amain!

My first is nothing but a name, My second still more small, My whole shows such a lack of fame It has no name at all.

Well known by story, not by name, I died a death unknown before, Nor ever to corruption came; My shroud the waves cast on the shore.

When ....., our puppy, sets out for a run, Over ..... he ....., all frolic and fun; For no whistle ..... he in his desperate hurry, The slow sheep to ....., and the old cow to worry.

That mystical gnome never flinches from toil Who ...... the ...... in Orient soil; Yet ...... mortals will ever abound To ...... all the soil till the treasure is found.

My feathered first has wings and sings, Unfledged my second swings its wings; My third on blackest pinions flies, My fourth can float beneath the skies. The letters to my first that fall Are the initials of them all.

My first was of the ...... breed, Their ..... captain, hot and riled, To .... his men found vain indeed, They only ... and smoked, and smiled!

Putting two small beasts that you take To the beginning of an end, A pointed weapon you will make To wound a foe or praise a friend.

He ....... to be ....... as a wonderful shot But he potted the dog, and ....... was his lot!

‘I excel not by a pun’— Turn these six words into one.

“War is a game which, were their subjects wise, Kings would not play at,” wrote the poet’s pen; But in war’s issue will be staked the prize, While kings and subjects are but erring men; So Britain—native empress of the seas— On ocean cradled, by her storm-king nursed— Friend of the fallen, guardian of the free, Rests on her well-tried last and trusty first. Her first alone can well maintain her right, Unscathed by any threat or mutinous blast; And though, when needed, foremost in the fight, Her first (strange paradox!) is always last! But should the tide of war approach the shore And threaten to engulf her island seat, My whole, replying with defiant roar, Would crash the audacious foe beneath her feet!

My first is flogged to make it move the faster, And turns at once to satisfy its master. My next will ripen as a pleasant fruit, For those whose simple taste its flavours suit. My whole, when breezes blow and pennons fly, Stands up aloft and points us to the sky.

A noun there is, of plural number, In daily use from here to Humber. Now almost any noun you take By adding “S” you plural make; But if you add an “S” to this, Strange is the metamorphosis! Plural is plural now no more; Useless what useful was before.

First, a semi-circle make, Add to this another Figure of two little lines Meeting with each other; Then a perfect circle form, Truly, neat, compactly, Add another form to these, Like the first exactly; Then, to make it all complete, Form a kind of angle, With a straight line, that should meet In a kind of tangle; When you this have rightly done (’Tis the truth I’m telling), You will get an article Useful in a dwelling: Should you this decapitate, You may have another Article, which, in its place, Is useful as the other.

Veiling the leas, my first may steep Late autumn’s listless air; And with my tainting second creep On idle spade and share. When happy days link soul to soul, And sunny faces shine, May both combined, a subtle whole, Be far from me and mine!

Old Charlie Brown, who a big rogue was reckoned, Was brought up at my first for making my second; He was fined, and because he no money would pay Had to work with my whole on the King’s highway.

Complete, I grow within a field And pleasant pasture often yield; Behead me once, a suitor then Is quickly brought before your ken; Behead again, I am a word That on the cricket-ground is heard. Restore my heads, cut off my tail, To name a spice you’ll not then fail; Behead me now, and you will find The master passion left behind. Put on my head, my tail restore, Complete me as I was before, My second letter take away, An envelope I am, you’ll say; But now curtail me just once more, I am an inlet on the shore.

My second is double my first, My first is but half of my second; And I’m sure you’ll admit that my whole Is ten times the latter when reckon’d.

My first I went the other day, And pretty surely reckon’d A basket of fine fish to catch, With hook and rod and second. But I was out in reckoning; A very pretty she Of her fair face show’d just my whole— And pretty soon hook’d me.

Of mirth the parent, though the child of art, A stranger to myself in every part; Each India has a native in my breast, The West my sweetness, and my fire the East. While milder climes my virtue to complete, Quicken my softness, and correct my heat; My dearest friends upon my vitals prey, And as they see me sinking, grow more gay.

When my whole takes a flight in the air you will find That my next is not left a great distance behind; But join them together, and plain to your view It all is as firm and as tight as a screw.

To three-fourths of a cross, add a circle complete; Then, let two semi-circles a perpendicular meet; Next, add a triangle that stands on two feet; Then, two semi-circles, and a circle complete.

Leader of Vandals and of vice My head is reckoned; A Turkish captain will suffice To be my second. My third is firm if well selected; My whole a wanderer neglected.

One thousand, two hundred, Nothing, and one, Transposed, give a word Expressive of fun.

My first was creeping on his way Through the mists of a dull October day, When a minstrel came to its muddy bed, With a harp on his shoulder, a wreath on his head; “And how shall I reach,” the poor boy cried, “To the courts and the cloisters on t’other side?” Old Euclid came, and he frown’d a frown, And he dash’d the harp and the garland down; Then he led the bard, with a stately march, O’er my second’s long and cellar’d arch;— “And see,” said the sage, “how every ass Over the sacred stream must pass!” The youth was mournful, the youth was mute, He sigh’d for his laurel, he sobb’d for his lute;— The youth took comfort, the youth took snuff, And follow’d the lead of that teacher gruff; And he sits, ever since, in my whole’s kind lap, In a silken gown and a trencher cap.

Upright and honest is my first; My second you may see Upon the frozen lake or stream; My whole is equity.

Never wearied, see us stand, A glittering and a stately band— Of sturdy stuff, but graceful form, In summer cold, in winter warm; From hottest duty never swerving, Night and day our place preserving; Each serving to a different use, Not to be changed without abuse. And, pray, mark well another fact— In unison we never act, Except, as on occasion dread, We watch the ashes of the dead; When we are ranged, as you may see As awful sentries, one, two, three.

My first, though naught, with others is a fruit, My next is vital to both man and brute. It should be dear to all who hate the devil, For it is ever the reverse of evil. My all, when whole, is eloquent of peace, Divided it invokes to life that will not cease.

Guess at my first, ’tis easy to discover, Covered with rings, and whiskered like a dandy. Wrapped up in furs, ’tis often on the housetop, Oft in the chimney! See where my second, scorning to be hidden, Stands at the head of quite a band of others, Like a virago, straddling with feet apart, And arms akimbo. Surely my next is happy in its office, Parting the lovelocks on Neæra’s forehead; Setting the golden lines wherewith she angles For the unwary. If by my whole at any time you pass, you Tread on the dust of holy saints and martyrs, Holy the place, may holy thoughts attend you, Peacefully dreaming!

Offspring of nature and of art, I stand Chief ’midst the monuments of every land; I may not lengthen life, but I For centuries forbid to die. The greatest truth in me you meet Is but deception most complete. Unchanged I last the changing crowds among, And as I older grow, I grow too young.

Pronounced as one letter, and written with three, Two letters there are, and two only in me; I’m double, I’m single, I’m black, blue, and gray, I’m read from both ends, and the same either way.

My first is false as false can be; My next old ladies wear; My whole’s my first, as you will see, As false, I do declare.

When whole I am indeed a thing To puzzle you a bit; Though parts of me are hard, at Bridge The others make a hit; Or you may make a car of some, And fix a head to it.

A word of nine letters explains How to mitigate bodily pains; The five vowels are there, And four consonants share This function for medical brains.

My second guides my first and third For pleasure, trade, and war; My first and second by my third Are oft transported far. But when my first my third doth pull, ’Tis then his lot is worst; And should my second lack my whole, He’s apt to leave my first.

The schoolboy likes me well, For healthful sport I bring, Yet I can harm create, Though such a little thing: Connubial bliss is form’d by me; My nature is equality.

I’m a district near London; If made wrong, I come undone; O’er sweet strings I swift run, Or appear with the bright sun, And though by me fights were won, I can greet you every one.

I am my first when seen with you, My next is always bad. A rogue in grain much harm may do And make the farmer mad.

When winter comes with frost and cold, My first is welcome, as of old; And though its grip may make you thinner, It helps to cook your Christmas dinner. Let me but hear my next rejoice At early dawn with cheerful voice, I haste to find, with eager pleasure, Some specimen of hidden treasure. A traveller my whole may find Far from his English kith and kind; Though some at home, to England’s shame, Are this in fact, if not in name.

It was to-morrow, and It will be yesterday; Now it is near at hand What is it? Who can say?

My first doth fill with light his father’s eyes, The second shadows all the mother’s brow; My whole all men, all women, girls and boys, Have had, and long to lose, and lost for ever now; But know not, nor can know, when it was lost, and how.

Complete, though not of human race, A soul in me may dwell; Behead, I held a higher place, Until, like man, I fell. Again behead, and in the song Of Burns I’m all your own; Behead once more, it would be wrong To find me out when known.

With head good for naught, And with tail always drunk, You know well what to say Of the worth of my trunk. First cut off my tail, I am Greek, and I’m not; Then cut off my head, And some Latin you’ve got. Lopping both you know best What remains, as I said, For I really am you If I lose tail and head!

One guiding eye I need In running through the gaps; My tail, as on I speed, Is caught in many traps.

Of all the birds that ever sought a mate, My first is to but one appropriate, So speak the word! nor silence shyly woo. To find my next, go! wander in the Zoo! My whole is a magician of the squares, But Art, with Chess, his best affections shares, So this, indeed, to him may be a law When winning’s hopeless, grandly still to draw.

Though poor and humble was my birth I sit enthroned on high; My footsteps far above the earth, My canopy the sky. O’er toiling subjects thus in state I bear despotic sway; Yet on them hand and foot I wait At break and close of day.

I am not of flesh and blood, Yet have I many a bone; No limbs, except one leg, And can’t stand on that alone. My friends are many, and dwell In all lands of the human race; But they poke my poor nose into the mud, And shamefully spatter my face. Thrust me into each other’s ribs, Stick me in gutter and rut; I have never a window, and never a door, Yet I often open and shut.

Before the crown descended on The head of England’s Queen, Four Kings upon that royal throne Of the same name had been. Now if the signs which marked their name Be joined unto a beast, We have a food on which the same (A quadruped) will feast.

I am pretty, and useful in various ways, Though I tempt some poor mortals to shorten their days; Behead me, and then in my place will appear What youngsters admire every day in the year; Behead me once more, and without any doubt, You must be what is left if you don’t find it out.

My first, when skilfully performed (Its doer by applauses warmed), Bespeaks both skill and vigour. When with my whole, so soft and light, I saw my second gay bedight, She made a splendid figure.

The man who ..... the common ..... Above the ..... chaste, ..... as he may, the world declares Is not a man of taste. And though my sympathy he shares, No ..... on him I waste!

When a monk in old times, unexpectedly heated, Endangered the peace of his soul, To atone for my second my first he repeated Quite ten times a day on my whole.

An insect small and fell Makes a weird sound, If, as its name you spell, You turn it round. One letter cast, and still Shift what remains, Another insect will Reward your pains.

Where head and body duly meet I am as slender as a bee; Whether I stand on head or feet My figure shows its symmetry. But when my head is cut away The metamorphosis is strange; Though both of them unaltered stay, Body and head to nothing change.

First is in coast, second in ghost, Third must be reckoned part of second; Fourth in boat, fifth in float, Sixth you will find within your mind. Seventh in blue, eighth in true, These letters tell a fruit that they spell.

The hunter and his steed are known My first to see. Though men may call my next a stone, Wood it may be. My whole, an exile from his home, Is doomed from place to place to roam.

My first expresses power to do, My next that it is done. To be my whole belongs to few, And perfectly to none.

In my first, as in a shell, All the sweetest sounds may dwell; In my second, shells abound That can catch no sort of sound; In my whole securely rest Those who neither jeer nor jest.

My first, though of the feathered kind Is never known to fly; My next all who improve their mind Seize as it passes by. My whole may much occasion find To make the truthful lie.

Divide a piece of beef or pork Without the aid of knife and fork; It gives a shelf, rejoined with skill, Where you may set this if you will. Strike off instead the end, its place Is plain as nose upon your face. Cut this asunder in your mind, And what is first put now behind; Part of our foot you thus discover, And in a measure all is over.

Seen as a whole, my form is now Akin to strife and malice; Split, it may grace a princely brow, Or crown the curls of Alice. Recast my letters, and I tell That nourishment is lacking; Stir them afresh until they spell The needle’s help in tacking.

If I write with my first in my second My whole you can never find out; Add a letter, and all will be reckoned A patron of water devout.

Loss of love between us Never can be nice; Yet we live where Venus Changes us to ice.

Tell me, my sweet, Why are your feet Like fairy tales?

Our parson ....... every man who has leisure To study ....... windows, the glory of fanes; And ....... of devoting his income to pleasure, Our ....... old dean spends his money on panes.

Though much attached to merriment, Or crime for a variety, To prison I am never sent, But sparkle in society.

Without my first and second’s aid No pudding worth its sauce is made. Take on my third, my fourth I am, My fifth includes myself and Sam. My whole describes the royal fiddler Nero, And shows him as an unheroic hero.

My first’s a fruit of foreign clime, Sweet to the taste, in price not dear; My second does my first produce, And yet my whole my first doth bear.

A thing of beauty, scattered by a breath, My firm embrace is harbinger of death; Not made by hands, a work of wondrous art, Complete and perfected in every part; Crush me to-day with all-determined care, Then look to-morrow, and I shall be there!

Six letters in my name are found, Though only three we see and sound; The shepherd by the running river May hear me where the rushes quiver; And should a stroke my whole divide, Leaving but half on either side, These, backward read, will surely tell What many a toper loves too well.

Upon a battle-field of learned men Hundred and fifty were by none divided. “Now,” said the bishop, “add two-thirds of ten And so you’ll guess the riddle just as I did.”

Though the stations of mortals are many And the last is the head of his race; Yet he, just as often as any, Is won by my first’s fell embrace; Yet we most of us apt are to fall, When our heads cease our hearts to control, Let us hope that not one of us all May be e’er in the state of my whole.

My whole is no matter, And light as the air, Yet it is good on the platter, And excellent fare. Curtail and transpose, And a lady you see, Who will flatter and pose, And with many do me.

My first, for ages out of mind, All men have always worn behind; And yet alike by sea and land They carry it upon their hand. My second, carefully matured, Is never ill but often cured. My whole, within unchanging lines Black men and white alike confines.

My second is pressed tightly round To guard from any ill; And when preparing to engage, Men find it useful still. My first against attraction set Will neutralise its power; Aided by it, with bargains, some May spend a happy hour. You find my whole by careful search Which must not be forsaken; It stands before what comes beyond, Which may from it be taken.

Scorned by the meek and humble mind, And often by the vain possessed, Heard by the deaf, seen by the blind, I give the troubled spirit rest.