A 224-Word Palindrome

Posted by Queuebot in Book & Lit on February 18, 2009 at 1:32 am


A palindrome is a word or a phrase which is the same when read from the start or the end, for example the word wow or racecar. Or how about the phrase; A Toyota’s a Toyota. where ever you start they are the same.

You would imagine a palindrome is pretty hard to think up, maybe the odd word could be easy enough, and with a bit of effort a phrase, well how about a 224 word poem? here’s

"Dammit I’m Mad"

by

Demetri Martin

Dammit I’m mad.
Evil is a deed as I live.
God, am I reviled? I rise, my bed on a sun, I melt.
To be not one man emanating is sad. I piss.
Alas, it is so late. Who stops to help?
Man, it is hot. I’m in it. I tell.
I am not a devil. I level “Mad Dog”.
Ah, say burning is, as a deified gulp,
In my halo of a mired rum tin.
I erase many men. Oh, to be man, a sin.
Is evil in a clam? In a trap?
No. It is open. On it I was stuck.
Rats peed on hope. Elsewhere dips a web.
Be still if I fill its ebb.
Ew, a spider… eh?
We sleep. Oh no!
Deep, stark cuts saw it in one position.
Part animal, can I live? Sin is a name.
Both, one… my names are in it.
Murder? I’m a fool.
A hymn I plug, deified as a sign in ruby ash,
A Goddam level I lived at.
On mail let it in. I’m it.
Oh, sit in ample hot spots. Oh wet!
A loss it is alas (sip). I’d assign it a name.
Name not one bottle minus an ode by me:
“Sir, I deliver. I’m a dog”
Evil is a deed as I live.
Dammit I’m mad.

I promise you, bar some punctuation, it reads the same forwards or backwards.

Link

(image credit: Flickr user puja)

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Jake.


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62 comments to "A 224-Word Palindrome"

  1. Johnny Cat
    February 18th, 2009 at 1:32 am

    That beat the huge and boring record holder that inserted a glut of words into "A man, a plan, a canal...Panama!" I love the centerpiece, "Be still if I fill it's ebb."

    +10, Demetri.

  2. NewRyanB
    February 18th, 2009 at 1:47 am

    the words "If I" are the middle point of the palindrome. I mention this because it is also the name of Demetri Martin's comedy special from the Edinburgh Festival which is on Youtube, in its six part glory. I highly recommend it.

  3. Sheldon
    February 18th, 2009 at 1:53 am

    I love Demetri Martin. He's one of the most intelligent and talented comedians I've ever seen.

  4. The Manticore
    February 18th, 2009 at 3:06 am

    I love the If, I special, toss my recommendation up there too, go watch it.

  5. Nicholas Dollak
    February 18th, 2009 at 6:17 am

    Wow! (How else does one respond to a palindrome like that?)

    For some reason it reminds me of Dutch Schulz' dying rant.

    By the way, the very first conversation consisted entirely of palindromes. Adam wakes up to find Eve beside him, and introduces himself: "Madam, I'm Adam." Eve is kind of shy and just gives her name: "Eve."

  6. Carl
    February 18th, 2009 at 6:45 am

    They Might be Giants:

    "Son, I am able," she said,
    "though you scare me."
    "Watch," said I,
    "Beloved," I said,
    "Watch me scare you."
    "Though," said she, "able am I son."

    I Palindrome I:

  7. Bukowski
    February 18th, 2009 at 8:04 am

    To whom may be interested, i think the longer one was made by Georges Perec in french, with 1247 words.
    This guy, a crazy genius french writer also wrote a novel without the letter "e", critics at time praise the book without even noticing this "exercice de style"

  8. Erik
    February 18th, 2009 at 8:46 am

    Longer yet is "2002" by Nick Monfort and William Gillespie, which is 2002 words long and was released on 20/02/2002. You can see it here:

    http://www.spinelessbooks.com/2002/

  9. sw
    February 18th, 2009 at 11:55 am

    I love palindromes! My favorite is:

    Go hang a salami, I'm a lasagna hog

  10. Tony LaRocca
    February 18th, 2009 at 12:10 pm

    It's not a palindrome - the palindrome of Bolton would be Notlob!

  11. zav
    February 18th, 2009 at 2:57 pm

    "Rats peed on hope."

    OMG. I can live another day.

  12. spede
    February 18th, 2009 at 4:47 pm

    Finnish scetch group called "alivaltiosihteerit" made full book with palindrome(In finnish naturally), I think that's a record.

  13. Chris
    February 18th, 2009 at 4:58 pm

    I'm impressed by most of it, but I wish it said "Goddamn" instead of "Goddam".

  14. Starving Artist
    February 18th, 2009 at 6:34 pm

    It sounds like the ravings of a lunatic to me.

  15. Jim R Feliciano
    February 18th, 2009 at 10:38 pm

    Wow

  16. ted
    February 18th, 2009 at 11:41 pm

    Too bad it doesn't make any sense. Then it would be impressive. Not too hard to string words together. I'm sure you could get a computer to do the same thing.

  17. care
    February 19th, 2009 at 1:04 am

    This is really bad for me.

  18. Zak
    February 19th, 2009 at 1:33 am

    @ Ted:
    How Sure are you, on a scale of 1 to 7, that you could get a computer to do the same thing?

    And would this computer's hair be a gloriously floppy as Demetri Martin's?

  19. deezie
    February 19th, 2009 at 1:55 am

    my fav:
    yo banana babe! o' mama, i am amoeba banana boy.

  20. These are jokes
    February 19th, 2009 at 2:33 am

    @ Zak

    "And would this computer’s hair be a gloriously floppy as Demetri Martin’s?"

    You might be able to get it to look at least like a bisexual George...

  21. Kaveh
    February 19th, 2009 at 3:11 am

    A computer could actually do it. But if you think this text looks crazy then wait until you see what a computer conjures, Computationally crazy :) .

  22. alizee
    February 19th, 2009 at 5:47 am

    This is really bad for me..

  23. Mitch
    February 19th, 2009 at 5:53 am

    Someone has WAY too much time on their hands,
    Lot of work for a pretty worthless result.

  24. Benny
    February 19th, 2009 at 7:26 am

    I agree, Mitch: I don't think you should have spent all that time writing your comment.

  25. Robbo
    February 19th, 2009 at 8:37 am

    Weird Al used the "Go hang a salami, I'm a lasagna hog." in his song "Bob" - comprised entirely of palindromes and in homage to Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues. Fun stuff.

  26. Rob
    February 19th, 2009 at 9:31 am

    My favorite one is:
    "Satan, oscillate my metallic sonatas."

    Using 'osciallate' in a palindrome at all gets props by me!

  27. favorite son
    February 19th, 2009 at 10:02 am

    i like,

    retteb siflahd nocese httub, but the second half is better.

  28. Ben Van Dusen
    February 19th, 2009 at 12:38 pm

    Yay.

    Here's one. Picture a golf foursome, three guys chatting, the other returning to his golf bag that is being visited by a stray dog:

    No deep gab, flog mad dog! Goddam golf bag peed on!

    Glad to have a place to put this.

  29. hah
    February 19th, 2009 at 12:56 pm

    comments are gay

  30. kc
    February 19th, 2009 at 1:20 pm

    Using "mad dog goddam" or "goddam mad dog" is cheating, IMO.

  31. goinglikesixty
    February 19th, 2009 at 2:15 pm

    Palindrome Day is August 29, some of you need to get started now.

    Satan, oscillate my metallic sonatas.

  32. Marchaux
    February 19th, 2009 at 2:27 pm

    @ Benny: LOL! You da man!

  33. Shane
    February 19th, 2009 at 3:06 pm

    my peronal fave is "so many dynamos". it's short, sweet, and oh so true

  34. Geedavey
    February 19th, 2009 at 4:14 pm

    My favorite palindrome: Picture a mad alchemist saying, "See, Slave! I demonstrate yet Arts no medieval sees!!"

    I wrote a longer one, and once I was done I promptly lost it. It wasn't as lucid.

  35. Chris
    February 19th, 2009 at 4:17 pm

    If you enjoy palindrome poetry, you should check out the work of Mike Maguire. He's the biggest name in that field right now:

    http://www.amazon.com/dp/0972424431/

  36. Ganky D
    February 19th, 2009 at 4:25 pm

    I've got one.... learned it when I was in the navy traversing the Panama Canal.

    "A man, a plan, a canal, Panama"

  37. BeachBum
    February 19th, 2009 at 4:36 pm

    The longest I could come up with was "MOM"

  38. pat
    February 19th, 2009 at 6:23 pm

    ummmmmmmmmm. Am I missing something or is the 3rd to last paragraph not a palindrome?:
    "“Sir, I deliver. I’m a dog”
    Evil is a deed as I live.
    Dammit I’m mad."
    The very last one is, and the 2nd to last is, but the phrase "Sir, I deliver. I'm a dog" is not a palindrome....

    Am I missing something?

  39. pat
    February 19th, 2009 at 6:24 pm

    ah NM, figured it out lol

  40. ador
    February 19th, 2009 at 9:12 pm

    even NATO tried to justify it's relevancy with OTAN

  41. FightingforDemocracy
    February 20th, 2009 at 12:57 am

    A "Palin" drome Story
    A palindrome is a word or phrase which reads the same in both directions.

    Sarah Palin is known to reverse positions and this leads to a "palin"drome story.

    I wrote this story back in Sept.08

    -------------------------

    Kayak salad: Alaska yak.
    Must sell at tallest sum

    Did I do, O God, did I as I said I'd do? Good, I did.

    Dammit, I'm mad.
    Name tarts? No, medieval slave, I demonstrate Man!

    Raw was I ere I saw war.
    Too far away, a war afoot.
    No, I save on final perusal, a sure plan if no evasion.
    No panic... I nap on

    Oh who was it I saw, oh who?
    so McCain: A maniac cmos
    Yo! Banana boy!
    Yo! Breed deer, boy!

    Rot can rob a born actor.

    Revered now I live on. O did I do no evil, I wonder ever?

    Deny a god, O gay Ned
    No, it never propagates if I set a gap or prevention.

    No lemon, no melon.
    No cab, no tuna nut on bacon.
    No desserts, I stressed on

    Is it I? It is I
    I saw I was I
    Too hot to hoot

  42. Andrew Rapfogel
    February 20th, 2009 at 7:44 am

    This buy is brilliant...check out:

    http://www.squidoo.com/watchdemetrimartinepisodes

    and also you can watch the FREE VIDEOS at http://www.firstonmars.com

  43. covax
    February 20th, 2009 at 8:41 am

    A computer could actually do it. But if you think this text looks crazy then wait until you see what a computer conjures, Computationally crazy :) ..

  44. MadMonk
    February 20th, 2009 at 4:42 pm

    Not much of a poem though, even by my pathetic standards.

  45. just a guy
    February 20th, 2009 at 5:06 pm

    Why is Dimirti Martian suddenly like everyone's favorite? He's been around man years, and in the past month suddenly I hear about him everywhere.

  46. ice9
    February 20th, 2009 at 8:08 pm

    uhhh...very impressive, except for the not being a palindrome part. Sure, it's spelled the same, but it makes no sense. Computers can make palindromes if you waive the whole "sense" rule. Write a little aimless blank verse and you can say anything. Second rate, though I found a few enjoyable moments.

    ice

  47. John Kelly
    February 21st, 2009 at 2:21 am

    I remember this from one of John Ciardi's columns long ago -- said to be the response of a suburban nudist to a neighbor complaining that his wife was getting annoyed:

    "Named undenominationally rebel, I rile Beryl? La, no! I tan! I'm, O Ned, nude, man!"

    Maybe not the most brilliant ever, but any palindrome that uses a word as long as "undenominationally" deserves credit just for that.

  48. chadw
    February 21st, 2009 at 12:07 pm

    God, a red nugget! A fat egg under a dog!

  49. perturbed
    February 21st, 2009 at 8:41 pm

    why do i even read comments...maybe bc I think there may be a horse hiding in all the poo?

  50. Pete
    February 22nd, 2009 at 2:12 am

    It dosen't make any sense though.
    reads like gibberish.
    But I'm a math geek who failed english the same semester I got straight A's in trig.

  51. Ron
    February 22nd, 2009 at 6:33 am

    Weird Al Yankovic has a nice all-palindrome song "Bob", a style parody of Bob Dylan.

    BOB

    I, man, am regal a German am I
    Never odd or even
    If I had a hi-fi
    Madam, I'm Adam
    Too hot to hoot
    No lemons, no melon
    Too bad I hid a boot
    Lisa Bonet ate no basil
    Warsaw was raw
    Was it a car or a cat I saw?

    Rise to vote, sir
    Do geese see God?
    "Do nine men interpret?" "Nine men," I nod
    Rats live on no evil star
    Won't lovers revolt now?
    Race fast, safe car
    Pa's a sap
    Ma is as selfless as I am
    May a moody baby doom a yam?

    Ah Satan sees Natasha
    No devil lived on
    Lonely Tylenol
    Not a banana baton
    No "x" in "Nixon"
    O, stone, be not so
    O Geronimo, no minor ego
    "Naomi", I moan
    "A Toyota's a Toyota"
    A dog, a panic in a pagoda

    Oh, no! Don Ho!
    Nurse, I spy gypsies -- run!
    Senile felines
    Now I see bees I won
    UFO tofu
    We panic in a pew
    Oozy rat in a sanitary zoo
    God! A red nugget! A fat egg under a dog!
    Go hang a salami, I'm a lasagna hog

  52. ted
    February 22nd, 2009 at 10:02 am

    Never said that I could get a computer to do it. I don't quite have the programming skills for that.

    I doubt "computationally crazy" would be any different from this dreck. It would be just as senseless.

  53. Max
    February 28th, 2009 at 7:13 am

    If a computer made a palindrome it would look something like this:
    00110110001100000111111000011111100000110001101100

    You know what, I somehow prefer Damien Martin's

  54. Camille (person)
    April 30th, 2009 at 7:13 pm

    To all of you bagging on him, get a piece of paper and let us see what you can come up with. Really, even if you fail you can come to appreciate how difficult it is.

  55. street lighting
    September 11th, 2009 at 8:26 pm

    Thanks for sharing informations.Looking forward to more stuff.

  56. Bryan
    September 12th, 2009 at 4:05 am

    fitness software

  57. fittting
    September 24th, 2009 at 7:55 pm

    This is a good post,Thanks!I can learn so much palindrome word.Very interesting!

  58. valves manufacturer
    September 28th, 2009 at 9:26 pm

    Does your mean the last word and the first word of every sentence must be one.

  59. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
    October 6th, 2009 at 11:24 pm

    demetri martin is hilarios did u know he was nominated for an emmy!!!!! hes a genuis

  60. flocculants@gmail.com
    October 19th, 2009 at 3:22 am

    In my halo of a mired rum tin.
    I erase many men. Oh, to be man, a sin.
    Is evil in a clam? In a trap?
    No. It is open. On it I was stuck.
    Rats peed on hope. Elsewhere dips a web.
    Be still if I fill its ebb.
    Ew, a spider… eh?
    We sleep. Oh no!

    Good!

  61. flocculants
    October 19th, 2009 at 3:23 am

    good poem

  62. tansel
    October 21st, 2009 at 9:57 pm

    Here is another for m of Poetry for you to check out. Visual poetry is poetry that combines motion graphics, film or video, music and of course, poetry. This offers an exciting format where poets, motion graphic artists, actors and other artists can reach out to the public and show off their skills and talents.


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