The Chaos, by G. Nolst Trenite' a.k.a. "Charivarius" 1870 – 1946

 

                                                                                                                             TRANSCRIPTION

Dearest creature in creation                                                                               dɪǝrǝst kriːʧǝ ɪn krieɪʃǝnŋ

Studying English pronunciation,                                                                       stdiːɪŋ ɪŋglɪʃ prǝnᴧnsieɪʃǝn/

I will teach you in my verse                                                                              aɪ wɪl tiːʧ juː ɪn maɪ vɜːrs

Sounds like corpse, corps, horse and worse                                                      saʊndz laɪk kɔːps kɔːz hɔːrs ǝnd wɜːrs

I will keep you, Susy, busy,                                                                              aɪ wɪl kiːp juː/ suzi/ bɪzi/

Make your head with heat grow dizzy.                                                             meɪk jʊr hed wɪð hiːt grǝʊ dɪzɪ//

Tear in eye your dress you'll tear;                                                                     tɪǝr ɪn aɪ jʊr dres juːl teǝ/

Queer, fair seer, hear my prayer.                                                                      kwɪǝ/ feǝ sɪǝ/ hiǝ maɪ preǝr//

Pray, console your loving poet,                                                                        preɪ/ kǝnsǝʊl jʊr lŋ  pǝʊǝt/

Make my coat look new, dear, sew it!                                                              meɪk maɪ kǝʊt lʊk njuː/ dɪǝr/ sǝw ɪt

 

Just compare heart, beard and heard,                                                                ʤst kǝmpeǝ haːrt/ bɪǝd ǝnd hɜːd/

Dies and diet, lord and word,                                                                           daɪz ǝnd daɪet/ lɔːrd ǝnd wɜːrd/

Sword and sward, retain and Britain.                                                               sɔːrd ǝnd swǝd/ rɪteɪn ǝnd brɪtǝn//

(Mind the latter, how it's written).                                                                     maɪnd ðe ltǝʳ/ haʊ ɪt ɪz rɪten

Made has not the sound of bade,                                                                      meɪd hz nɒt ðe saʊnd ɒv bd/

Say, said, pay, laid, but not plaid.                                                                    seɪ/ sed/ peɪ/ leɪd/ bt nɒt pld//

Now I surely will not plague you                                                                     naʊ aɪ ʃurli wɪl nɒt pleɪg juː

With such words as vague and ague,                                                                wɪð sʧ wɜːrdz z veɪg ǝnd eɪgju/

But be careful how you speak,                                                                          bt biː kerfǝl haʊ juː spiːk/

Say gush, bush, steak, streak, break, bleak,                                                      seɪ gʃ/ bʊʃ/ steɪk/ striːk/ breɪk/ bliːk/

Previous, precious, fuchsia, via,                                                                        priːviǝs/ preʃǝs/ fjuːʃǝ/ vaɪǝ/

Recipe, pipe, studding-sail, choir,                                                                      recǝpi/ paɪp/ stʊnsei/ kwaɪǝ/

Woven, oven, how and low,                                                                             wǝʊvǝn/ vǝn/ haʊ ǝnd lǝʊ/

Script, receipts, shoe, poem, toe.                                                                       skrɪpt/ rɪsiːt/ ʃuː/ pǝʊǝm/ tǝʊ//

Hear me say, devoid of trickery,                                                                       hɪǝ miː seɪ/ dɪvɔɪd ɒv trɪkǝrɪ/

Daughter, laughter and Terpsichore,                                                                 ːtǝr/ lftǝr ǝnd tepsikari/

Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles                                                                       taɪfɔɪd/ miːzelz/  tɒpseɪl/ aɪlz

Exiles, similes, reviles.                                                                                       eksaɪlz/ sɪmɪliːz/ rɪvaɪlz/

 

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