: Re: Using spoonerism for a non-humoristic purpose I found this interesting figure of speech called spoonerism. Here's the article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoonerism Now, I have been wondering if

@Sue2132873

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The original Spoonerisms were accidental slips of the tongue and became a source of ridicule. Deliberate ones are either humorous or offensive - as the second example you cite is intended to anger the fans of the other team.

Most spoonerisms take two words and turn then accidentally into two other words. If I were reading something and found elvitating angles near levitating angels I would be disappointed.

Poetry should be one of the highest forms of expression we have and stunts like that would make me put it down. I am all for experimentation in language, but this seems a mistake unless you want to create humor or a puzzle.

I have never been able to dash out and write verse on command. I wait and hear a phrase, sometimes just two words and I know I might have something. I often select the sonnet form, rarely choosing a ballad, though once I finished a nine canto two thousand couplet parody of knights - it was a poem by committee and hell to finish. My contribution ended up being 85% of it, but we had couplets submitted by fellow students and the occasional professor. Never again, though Random Musings is a fun though somewhat bizarre read.

Consider what Coleridge attains with careful use of sometimes simple but often cryptic words. He can evoke humor or horror and it still is such beautiful poetry that it demands to be read aloud that the ear can revel in it too.

I can’t read Kubla Khan without at least wanting to read it aloud. He used real words to convey meaning in a beautiful fashion.

I urge you not to try and use stunts and gimmicks to make your rhymes. Near rhymes or eye rhymes would be better than transposing syllables. When you must contort the language to make your piece work, you might end up writing a corkscrew.

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