Notable Nobs Not Unpleasant To Know: Letters Q & R

In his nonsense verse “How pleasant to know Mr. Lear” the popularizer of the limerick makes amusing observations about himself. In the octaves below readers are urged to discover equally intriguing characters who, it’s hoped, will prove just as amusing and, in the end, just as “not unpleasant to know.”


       Not un-
pleasant to know.? Ray Queneau,*
     our ou-
vroir de potentielle fons.**
     Were each 
stich of this lyric sans 'o,'     
     'twould make 
lays*** to which Ray’s group responds.***
     As one 
sees, though, here 'o's overflow,
     bursting 
lipogrammatical bonds.
     One feels 
sorrow for narrow Queneau:
     lack of 
'o's just aren’t sine qua nons. 
     * Raymond Queneau 
     ** Short for Ouvroir de literature potentielle, which is long for Oulipo, the clearing house for creators of so-called constrained writing. ‘Fons’ is short for fons et origo -- i.e., source and origin. 
     *** Queneau and his pals are fond of lipograms, one form of constrained writing.
     **** Some mss show 'hay' here. but only in clement weather.

     Not un-
pleasant to know: Rabelais,* 
     sire to
Pantagruel...and to Gargantua. 
     (He was
born near Chiron -- so they say --
     which ex-
plains why he weren't born near Mantua.) 
     You may
read his best efforts some day. 
     But be
warned: don't bite more than you can chew: a 
     bit of
Rabelais goes a long way...
     and oft-
times smells not unlike a Cannes sewer. 
     * Francois Rabelais 

     Not un-
pleasant to know: Mr Ray...  
     * Sukumar Ray

     Not un-
pleasant to know: Mr. Raine…
     * Craig Raine

     Not un-
pleasant to know: Mr. Reid... 
     * Christopher Reid

     Not un-
pleasant to know: Mister Ron...  
     * Ron Evry

     Not un-
pleasant to know? Monsieur Remi,* 
     he who 
brings us jeune journalist Tintin.
     Georges a 
Nazi? Nope, not even demi-,
     (though Le 
Soir Herge did do a stint in). 
     Nonethe-
less, even Eva Braun's hem he
     would have 
fled before fing'ring the lint in. 
     Inks no 
ligne claire swastiks does Remi,
     nor risks 
rides in doomed airship -burg (Hinden-).
     * M Georges Prosper Remi aka Herge