The Triantiwontigongolope

In a few weeks, The Smarties are going to the Performing Arts Festival in Perth. We'll be reciting a poem called The Triantiwontigongolope. It's very funny and we like it a lot. It was written by an Australian poet called C.J. Dennis, in 1921, which is almost a century ago! What do you think of the poem?

The Triantiwontigongolope by C.J. Dennis

There's a very funny insect that you do not often spy,
And it isn't quite a spider and it isn't quite a fly,
It is something like a beetle, and a little like a bee,
But nothing like a woolly grub that climbs upon a tree.
Its name is quite a hard one, but you'll learn it soon, I hope.
So try:
Tri-
Tri-anti-wonti-
Triantiwontigongolope.

It lives on weeds and wattle-gum, and has a funny face,
Its appetite is hearty, and its manners a disgrace.
When first you come upon it, it will give you quite a scare,
But when you look for it again, you find it isn't there.
And unless you call it softly, it will stay away and mope.
So try:
Tri-
Tri-anti-wonti-
Triantiwontigongolope.

It trembles if you tickle it, or tread upon its toes,
It is not an early riser, but it has a snubbish nose.
If you sneer at it, or scold it, it will scuffle off in shame,
But it purrs and purrs quite proudly if you call it by its name,
And offer it some sandwiches of sealing-wax and soap.
So try:
Tri-
Tri-anti-wonti-
Triantiwontigongolope.

But of course you haven't seen it, and I truthfully confess,
That I haven't see it either, and I don't know its address.
For there isn't such an insect, though there really might have been,
If the trees and grass were purple, and the sky was bottle green.
It's just a little joke of mine, which you'll forgive, I hope.
So try:
Tri-
Tri-anti-wonti-
Triantiwontigongolope.

Love from The Smarties and Mrs N