I am not crying, not at all, despite the title of this post! It is just to give you a hint of what is to come, of terrific wordplay that teases my ears and eases my tears….or more simply, of words that misplace their sounds! Read on to find out what I am talking about.

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Poetic Sundays: The Schuttelreim Can Tease My Ears and Ease My Tears!

October is German-American Heritage Month, among a few other Heritage months here in the US. Keeping this in mind, I am featuring the Schuttelreim today, which is a German poetic form that is sure to remind you of spoonerisms.

Given that the very nature of this form can make it sound funny(ier), definitely one that can tease my ears and ease my tears!

What is the Schuttelreim Poetic Form?

Schuttelreim is a German poetic device from the 13th century. While it started off as a more serious form, it took on a more comic shape around the 19th century. In addition, the reversal of sounds in the last two words of the two lines of this couplet form lent to the suggestive humor with its word play. The form takes the more familiar concept of spoonerism one step further by having the initial consonants of the last two words in the first line reversed in the next one.

The Schuttelreim’s Characteristics

So the Schuttelreim’s elements are that it is:

• stanzaic: made up of a single couplet (however, could have more than one couplet)
• rhymed, where the initial consonants of the last 2 words of the first line are switched in the last two words of the second line. When more than one couplet, follows a simple rhyme scheme of aa/bb/cc (or aa/aa/aa – per poets choice)
• most often used in light, humorous, or sarcastic verse

h/t and further reading

• Schuttelreim
• Automatic Poetry – loved this way of looking at the form!

My Attempt at the Schuttelreim

The post title is actually not a good example of the Schuttelreim, though it certainly qualifies as a spoonerism. Even with spoonerisms, it is consonants that find themselves in the wrong position than vowels (a vowel does misplace itself in mine). So here is my attempt to tease my ears (and yours as well) with a schuttelreim, and hopefully that will ease some tears too.. (additionally hopefully not needed in the first place)

See Through Change
Oh my!! This clear purse, it sells for dollars fifty three?!
My dear, it is pure PVC, so the price is a thrifty fee.
~ vidya @ ladyinreadwrites

Recently

On My Blog and the Homefront

this week’s posts included

• Sunday Scribblings #118: Spoken Word Battles Can be Wondrous Too
• Smile Out Loud and Wide: For Today & Everyday
• Books I Found on a Holiday That Delighted
• How Words Help Build Strong Foundations on Rock-Bottom
• Board Games from Op: Venn & Hues and Cues: How They Challenge
• 15 Fantastic Films For Fall That You’ll Fall For
• Met My New Best Friend Today!

Upcoming

On My Blog and On the Homefront

More writing, hopefully….

Celebrations

Literary Celebrations (close-to-it also!)

• Literary birthdays this week include: Arthur Miller and Patrick Ness on Oct 17th;  Amish Tripathi and Rick Moody on 18th October; John le Carre on the 19th; Nikki Grimes on October 20th; Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Amy Emphron on 21st October; Ann Rule, Debbie Macomber, Deepak Chopra, Jayanta Mahapatra, and Doris Lessing on October 22nd; Aravind Adiga and Michael Crichton on October 23rd; and Emma Donoghue on October 24th.
• October 17th is Black Poetry Day. Check out some of the poetic forms I have included previously on my blog, including the Kwansaba, the Golden Shovel, and
• The third week of October is annually celebrated as National Friends of Libraries Week. So time to stop by your local library if you haven’t been there for a while. It is also Free Speech Week 
• October 20th has been celebrated as the National Day on Writing since 2017. It was established by the National Council of Teachers of English. You can download a toolkit to help celebrate the day here on their website.

Foodie Celebrations

• The week begins with a favorite carb for many; it is National Pasta Day on the 17th of October!
• Followed by something for your sweet tooth on the 18th with National Chocolate Cupcake Day
• And October 19th is the time to mix up a drink if you wish to, for it is International Gin and Tonic Day
• The 20th is a foodie celebration of a different kind; it is International Chef Day and for something more regular. well, almost-regular, it is National Brandied Fruit Day
• October 21st brings with it International Nacho Day and it is pumpkin galore after all, so we also celebrate National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day on this date!
• The 22nd is National Nut Day while the 23rd October ends the week with the delish National Boston Cream Pie Day

Other Celebrations and Observations

• The 17th of October observes International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
• While the 18th celebrates an almost everyday clothing – it is International Legging Day!
• October 20th happens to be International Day of the Air Traffic Controller
• And the 22nd is National Color Day as well as National Make A Difference Day(observed on the Fourth Saturday in October)
• The 23rd of October celebrates a beautiful and majestic animal; it is International Snow Leopard Day

Wrapped Up: My Sunday Scribblings

So dear reader, you have reached the end of this Sunday Scribblings! As always, I welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions about this post. Will you be attempting to write the featured poetic form? And, of course, do let me know if you plan to celebrate any of these mentioned celebrations this coming week/month?

Linking this to the Sunday Post over at the Caffeinated Reviewer and the Sunday Salon. And for Day 16 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge