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CHARADE SENTENCES
HEARST SILL ROGERS
Charades -- the division of words into parts that are also words,
such as PLEASURE = PLEA + SURE - - have been known for a very
long tinle. However I char~de sentence S I such as
Flamingo: pale, scenting a latent shark!
Flanling, opale scent in gala tents - - hark!
were apparently first devised by Howard Bergerson of Sweet HOnle,
Oregon in the early 1960 s; Dnlitri Borgmann cites seve ral (including
the example above) in Language on Vacation (Scribner! s, 1965).
Howard Bergerson also noted the close relationship between char­
ade sentences and a palindromic sentence; in the latter, the letters in
the second half of the sentence must be read in right-to-left order, as
Doc, note, I di s sent. A fast never
. doc no teid I . ssentaf a stneverp
In palindronles, unlike charade sentences, an extra letter can appear
at the cente r .
Charade sentences are featured in an article by Howard Bergerson
in the February 1969 Word Ways; Bonita C. Miller contributed two
charade poenls in May 1974. The purpose of this article is to ac­
quaint recent readers with examples of ~his type of literary constraint.
Daniel G. Porter of New York, N. Y. has constructed seven charade
sentence s that tell a story of sorts, and James Rambo of Palo Alto)
California has devised the longest charade poem known.
UNICORN
le special sig­
It representa­
VERISHLY is
each letter of
e total of the
In turn equals
I four times
In addition,
lis manner.
the logologist
1 no name is
Dear the Pony, mousy ethos telling ersatz Eros tales -­
Dearth, eponymous - yet - llhostel", lingers at zero, stales
So erect, Hon! Ice ravish nuance, darling
So ere cthonic era (Vishnu) an' Cedarling
Then undo us, escargo in, God drest ...
(The nun douses car goin~ odd; rest.)
A s knot or seed own soil loaf
A sk not; or see down; so I'll oaf
80
Form., Indra; infer . .. I til ebony Jew elect opiate as E. S. P. - - UN
For Mind (rain-fertile, bony jewel) , ectopia teases. (pun.)
A WORI
Or crusted leaf lying there turns
Or c- rusted lea, flying the returns!
You ther~, Fir, sting others with arbors of tension ..
Youth, ere first ingot hers, wit, harbors often sian. 11
11
RICHARD
Concord, :
THE POETlS REPLY
I
Use fulsom.e howl
Or direst word
In galling us;
Toil over a shoddy ode?
Listen,
Dres sed in gyves, tiger,
Allie s fall,
Ensna,red in tim.eless ~ras,
Me'ntally in agony,
Es says in gall.
Outwit Hades,
Ignore verses,
You real lover ?
Com.e!
II
Useful som.ehow, Lord,
I re st, wording all
In gus to I love.
Rash odd yodel
Is tendresse;
Dingy vestige
Rallies fallen snared.
Intim.e, les ser as m.en tally,
Inag on -- yes, say,
Sing all out -­
With a design.
o reverses,
You 1 re all overcom.e !
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