Rhythmic riddle poem

Question

This poem has a symbol, and the symbol is a pea;
It goes all through a tunnel, and the tunnel is a hole.
Now the poem is so eerie, and it's slipping in an eel.
"Hem-hem," said Mrs Umbridge, with a long and speedy dash.

The riddle itself is quite easy, but I had fun writing it as a poem with a nice rollicking rhythm.

The fact that none of the couplets rhyme is irritating me unreasonably much. — , Jun 09 '15 at 17:53
@JoeZ. And all the time I spent getting the rhythm right... What does it take to satisfy some people? :-P — Rand al'Thor, Jun 09 '15 at 17:54

A.D. · Accepted Answer · 2015-06-09T19:49:01.150

5

I think it's

POEM

Here is why

all lines reference a letter

This poem has a symbol, and the symbol is a pea;

reference the letter P in a phonetic way
Pea sounds like P.

It goes all through a tunnel, and the tunnel is a hole.

reference the letter O in a visual way
O looks like a hole or the end of the tunnel

Now the poem is so eerie, and it's slipping in an eel.

As mentioned by Mark N
E is the letter inside eel (it's slipping in it)

"Hem-hem," said Mrs Umbridge, with a long and speedy dash.

Hem-Hem = M
There is 2 common versions of dash, the short one or en dash and the long one or em dash

edited Jun 09 '15 at 19:49

answered Jun 09 '15 at 17:54

A.D.

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+1, but can you explain the "eerie" and "dash" parts? – Rand al'Thor Jun 09 '15 at 17:56
@randal'thor I have to find the "eerie" part. I think I have the "dash" part – A.D. Jun 09 '15 at 18:07
The dash part is simpler than that! Also, Hole = O isn't really "phonetic"... – Rand al'Thor Jun 09 '15 at 18:08
slipping 'in' and eel..e'e'l..? – Mark N Jun 09 '15 at 18:15
@randal'thor I updated my answer. Still have no clue for the dash – A.D. Jun 09 '15 at 18:26
Maybe it is something to do with Professor Umbridge from Harry Potter? She says "hem hem" whenever she wants to interrupt someone... – user41805 Jun 09 '15 at 18:41
@randal'thor I updated my answer, but I run out of solutions :) – A.D. Jun 09 '15 at 19:35
What do you call a long dash? Also "slipping" could be seen as a reference to the double E: if your finger slips on the E key, you might get two E's instead of one. @KritixiLithos Indeed, that's who I'm referring to! – Rand al'Thor Jun 09 '15 at 19:37
@randal'thor I got it now. Since English is not my first language, I have a lot to learn on double meanings :) – A.D. Jun 09 '15 at 19:47

Mark N · Answer 2 · 2015-06-10T19:53:34.230

This is just a joke in response to Joe Z's comment about the rhymes.

My alternate (Fresh prince) edition for the riddle:

Now this is a story all about how,
my Eel life got flipped-turned upside down,

and I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there.
I'll tell you how this Eel ate a pea and dashed home to Bel Air! (Bel air is in a hole where Mrs. Umbridge must live.)

Deep down in the water, I was born and raised.
Swimming around was how I spent most of my days.

Chillin' out, snacking relaxing all cool,
Eating some food that fell in the pool.

When Mrs. Umbridge, came over and was up to no good!
Started throwing Peas in my neighborhood.

I ate one little pea, it went straight down my throat hole,
and then Mrs. Umbridge said 'Ee!..hem-hem, that was not my goal.'

Rhythmic riddle poem

2 Answers2