A Compendium of Collected Nouns.

this week we are revising rhyme and learning collective nouns

A Loveliness of Ladybirds

A scatter of sparrows, a matter of words…

A flick of rabbits, a trip of goats

A dissimulation of birds to quote.

A wake of buzzards, a covert of coots

A gaggle of geese in hungry gumboots.

A cloud of gnats, a chime of wrens

A skulk of foxes sniping the fen.

A surfeit of skunks, a shiver of sharks

An ambush of tigers leaping for larks.

A gulp of swallows, a hover of trout

A knot of frogs ambling out

From tangles of kelp, a siege of cranes

A squabble of seagulls plotting a stain.

A mischief of mice, a murder of crows

A flaming redemption of rainbows.

A string of ponies, parliament of owls

A cartload of monkeys and a rasp of fowls.

A clowder of cats, a tatter of rats

Parade the elephants in pirate hats

With eyes for planks, and three swords of truth

A pouch for a court of kangaroos.

A pride of lions, a pack of dogs

A parcel of penguins - waterlogged.

A dazzle of zebras, a drift of swans

A drift of swine rooting the bog.

 

Industry of spiders, a garlic of clove

A fur of ball and a treasure of trove.

An ignorance of sloths, a loaf of lizards

An avarice of turkeys, a gibber of gizzards .

An assembly of asses, coalition of cheaters

A copy and paste of reprint repeaters.

A pile of poo!, a blizzard of flies

A calico pie of drawn-out goodbyes.

A punchline of clowns, an impact of fighters

A wisdom of wombats, a misery of writers.

A city, a pavement, an amazement of ants

A rude suspension of underpants.

A dinkum of bunkum, a pulpit of pumpkins

A ratbag of scallywags, misfits and munchkins

A jubilance of flowers, and five knits of shadow

An echo of echo,

                                of echo,

                                                of echo…

Author's Note

together with my kids we are learning collective nouns, and the base text, which has also loaned heavily to this ditty, is Jennifer Skelly's "A Compendium of Collective Nouns"
Some of them I just made up, too. It was fun enough to want to do more.

Reviews

[Relic]

I can remember Bruce lee confidently saying in an interview: Be like water. This is perfectly smooth and flows as such. I dream of having the vocabulary to be able to accomplish poems like this. Excellent poem Charlie.

[charlie]

Am a huge fan of Bruce Lee! Even his poems... Thanks a lot for reading, R.

[Katrina]

Very original. It was fun, and it read to me like... almost like being a kid and wanting to impress or amuse someone you like -- maybe not even romantically. Just to make them impressed at what you do know, and laugh at what you're clever enough to make up. It reminds me of youth, and not enough writing seems to even take me that far back. Well done.

[charlie]

Yeah, this was written with, and for my kids. so I would hope an element of youthfulness was there. Thanks for saying so, Katrina.

[Phil Roberts]

excellent! i particularly liked "a gulp of swallows". my wife once coined the phrase "a ruck of vicars". which was oddly appropriate for no apparent reason : )

[charlie]

A ruck of vicars - good one!

[Lasune]

This work is technically beautiful, I love how it just rolls off the tongue.

[charlie]

Thanks Lasune. We enjoyed this one, too.

[Beccy]

Loved this to bits, really did. So, so clever and great fun to read. Your children are fortunate in their father.

Beccy.

[charlie]

Hi Beccy. Thank you for reading, and for a nice compliment. Regards.

[Dara]

I can tell you had alot of fun with this one. Pretty impressive vocabulary :-)

[Jerome F Knox III pseud..]

I liked how in the beginning all the imagery dealt with animals then you juxtaposed animals against human traits a personification of sorts where you sprinkle gentle truths with politics. As usual you spin your magic once more.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

being an English teacher, i enjoyed this immensely, immensely

immensely...is there an echo in here?

[charlie]

:-) I did think of you, jacob, the moment I pressed the publish button.
I wondered if you'd call me in on the absence of capitalisation? (which I decided to forgo in the attempt of stretching for a vague semblance of story line...)
Thanks for reading, as always.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

are you kidding? charlie, you have read my poetry...i rarely if ever use capitalization...
poetry is its own thing, much different from formal standard English.
and i hate all that capitalization that draws attention to itself.

emily dickinson was strange with her capitals...so random...never figured out why she did that...but then she violated form so much...she was a pioneer in it.

i really enjoy your work.
jacob

[jacob erin-cilberto]

went back to this fun one again...i see you changed your mind about the capitaization?

this is a gaggle of smiles....:)))