[1080] The Lama

The one-l lama,
He's a priest.
The two-l llama,
He's a beast.
And I will bet
A silk pajama
There isn't any
Three-l lllama.*

	-- Ogden Nash

(to which Nash appended the footnote
  *The author's attention has been called to a type of conflagration known
  as a three-alarmer. Pooh.
)

This is probably Nash's best known poem, and for good reason. Not only does
he provide a wonderfully quotable mnemonic, he goes on to extend it with an
almost Carrollian piece of whimsy, carrying the progression through to its
logical conclusion (why *isn't* there a three-l lllama anyway?). And the
footnote is a delightful piece of icing on the cake, there being something
so Nashian about the pun that I have to wonder whether it was part of the
poem all along.

-martin

[Afterthought]

'llama' would, of course, be pronounced 'yama' in the original Spanish, though
it has been quite thoroughly Anglicised by now.

[this poem is archived, accessible and awaiting your comments at]
http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/1080.html

From: "Steve Campbell" <s.campbell@>

> This is probably Nash's best known poem, and for good reason. Not only does
> he provide a wonderfully quotable mnemonic, he goes on to extend it with an

Without wishing to knock the poem in any way, which is quite 
funny, I would just point out that it is not really a mnemonic as it 
doesn't provide a way to remember which is L and which is LL. In 
the poem "beast" and "priest" could be swapped over and its still 
equally memorable.

Just being pedantic...

Steve

From: John Beaty <john@>

on 8/22/02 10:13 PM, Martin Julian DeMello at ssiyer@ wrote:
> [Afterthought]
> 
> 'llama' would, of course, be pronounced 'yama' in the original Spanish, though
> it has been quite thoroughly Anglicised by now.
> 

Dear Martin:

Love the poems, and this one (Nash) is one of my favorites, too. But llama
is actually a Quechua (or Kechua i.e. Andean indiginous) word that most
likely was pronounced as it is spelled, given that, as far as I can find out
late on a Friday night, it is pronounced in Spanish as it is in English
(i.e. lama). Etymology from Webster's Encyclopedic Dictionary 2nd ed.,
pronunciation from a Professor of Spanish at U Conn, Stamford.

Glad to see the poems again!  All my best,

John
-- 
john@
(914) 764-4622

From: Pierre Malraison <pierremal@>

A 3 ell lllama is a hell of a fire.
[say it out loud :-)]

====----------------------
Pierre Malraison
Email: pierremal@
Webs: http://www.geocities.com/pierremal http://bcn.boulder.co.us/~pierre
-------------------------

From: Michael Burger <gmburger@>


Hi

I just love the "lama" poem, and some years ago, composed an alternate ending:

"And you can bet your silk pajama:

when there'as a monster fire, it's a three-alarmer."

Love the site, thanks loads

Michael Burger



Blessed be



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From: Gerald Obrecht <obrecht@>

On this, you can bet your mama.

From: "Dan and/or Jackie Kimball" <crow_05156@>

What is there to comment?  A poem should not mean but be.