It’s Memorised.....

Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”

He took his vorpal sword in hand;
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
He chortled in his joy.

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
 
My US Navy I.D. #, B14 60 48. I had to know it backwards and forwards. I had to stencil it on everything I owned. It was on every part of my uniform down to my skivvies, even my shoes. So why was that the most useless thing I had to memorize?
About a month after I spent all that time stenciling that number on everything, the Navy decided to use your SSN as your ID number.
 
Also, my mothers Co-op dividend number 34502

My ex husbands' navy personnel number...

The phone number of my house when I was a kid... 9212

..and following on from Aunt Bea.. a poem by Rabbie burns... ( altho', tbf .. being Scottish I learned a lot of Burns at school)

Every friend or family members' birth date.. even from school days

John Anderson my jo, John,
When we were first acquent,
Your locks were like the raven,
Your bonie brow was brent;
But now your brow is beld, John,
Your locks are like the snaw,
but blessings on your frosty pow,
John Anderson, my jo!

John Anderson my jo, John,
We clamb the hill the gither,
And monie a cantie day, John,
We've had wi' ane anither;
Now we maun totter down, John,
And hand in hand we'll go,
And sleep the gither at the foot,
John Anderson, my jo!
 
Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”

He took his vorpal sword in hand;
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
He chortled in his joy.

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
@Aunt Bea this is one of my absolute fav poems of all time....thank you
 
This is kinda "wow": I saw this thread and remembered an address I lived in as a kid (from about 8 yrs. to about 15 yrs old). So I looked the address up on google images. Now this place in the suburbs was brand new when we moved in; it had been an apricot orchard; almost all the trees were chopped down; no landscaping, just bare dirt everywhere except for the few trees; and the houses were considered to be at the very bottom of the middle class range (if middle class at all); the other kids in school teased me about our "low-class" neighborhood. Now I'm really not looking for sympathy about it because here's the "wow" part: when I looked the house up today on google images: OH MY GAWSH, it sold about 12 years ago for...wait for it...$2.2 million!! I can't even...Guess it's just as well I moved out of that area; no way could I have afforded to keep living there, I'd be on the streets today. Isn't that something?! I just can't even... o_O
 
83049 - my grandmother's phone number -

66479 - my great aunt's phone number =

Both have been disconnected for at least 60 years...
 


Back
Top