Wordplay

I was cleaning out some old boxes of office stuff (see #4 here) and came upon a yellowed scrap of paper I'd clipped from the Times Book Review. The book reviewed was Making the Alphabet Dance by Ross Eckler (published in 1997); the clip was a sonnet by one David Shulman:

"Washington Crossing the Delaware"

A hard, howling, tossing, water scene:
Strong tide was washing hero clean.
"How cold!" Weather stings as in anger.
O silent night shows war ace danger!

The cold waters swashing on in rage.
Redcoats warn slow his hint engage.
When general's star action wish'd "Go!"
He saw his ragged continentals row.

Ah, he stands—sailor crew went going,
And so this general watches rowing.
He hastens—Winter again grows cold;
A wet crew gain Hessian stronghold.

George can't lose war with 's hands in;
He's astern—so, go alight, crew, and win!

What's so great about this sonnet? Look closely. Each of the 14 lines is an anagram of the title, "Washington Crossing the Delaware." That's right, every single line contains only those  29 letters, no more and no fewer, just rearranged. Astonishing!

Comments

[Daniel Barkowitz]

Could you imagine having the patience to create this? Wow. I am impressed...

[pam]

That's very cool. And it looks like a good book, too!