We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.

Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]

Samizdata limerick of the day

As seen on a person’s Facebook feed, in relation to those Extinction Rebellion characters as referenced in the post immediately below this one:

There once was an extinction rebellion
Led by a diminutive hellion
Who lives in a yurt
And is covered in dirt
With beliefs distinctly Orwellian.

Enjoy!

8 comments to Samizdata limerick of the day

  • Tom
    All the XR comments seem to be going to Natalie’s posting below this.
    But I have a question specific to this poem: “Yurt” – the internet tells me this is a sort of posh tent. But, what is a “hellion”?

  • Gene

    Hellion: “A mischievous, troublesome, or unruly person.”

  • Itellyounothing

    There once was an extinction rebellion,
    Whose scent distinctly a smelly one,
    Their science was guff,
    Their minds made of fluff,
    The public got sick,
    Their heads got a kick,
    And they now the won’t tube ride for anyone.

  • Wiliam H. Stoddard

    The last line doesn’t scan; there’s a notable pause after “beliefs” where there ought to be an unstressed syllable. How about

    With beliefs that were wholly Orwellian

    ?

  • 80’s music fan

    Itellyounothing gave it more love than the spondee “Sod off, Swampy!”

  • Wiliam H. Stoddard (October 17, 2019 at 4:47 pm), I agree. Dropping the needless ‘once’ from the first line also improves the scansion slightly.

    I had thought of making the first two lines a sentence:

    There was an extinction rebellion
    Led by a diminutive hellion.
    She lives in a yurt
    And is covered in dirt
    But her thinking is rather Orwellian.

    Despite these minor criticisms, I admire the rhymes and point of the original. 🙂

  • Paul Marks

    It is now clear that “Extinction Rebellion” are against trains – electrically powered trains.

    So much for just being against CO2 emissions from cars and so on – they are clearly against technological civilisation in general.

    Which means they want about 95% of the population of this country to die – as the sort of primitive society they support could only support about 5% of the current population.

  • Itellyounothing

    Paul Marks
    October 17, 2019 at 9:58 pm
    It is now clear that “Extinction Rebellion” are against trains – electrically powered trains.

    So much for just being against CO2 emissions from cars and so on – they are clearly against technological civilisation in general.

    Which means they want about 95% of the population of this country to die – as the sort of primitive society they support could only support about 5% of the current population.

    If they truly believe what they say, they go first, its only fair. Everyone knows the greenest thing a greenie can do is kill themselves and any children they sired.