the alphabet

Double-click on any word and see its definition from Cambridge Dictionaries Online.

After reading the poem, try this comprehension activity, followed by this grammar activity. Finally, do some writing yourself.

The Alphabet

Letters make words.
Words make phrases.
Phrases make paragraphs.
Paragraphs make compositions.
Compositions make books.
Books tell us
very important things.
Every letter
means or appears to mean something.
A is the first, the director.
B is the servant of the leader.
C is a loadstone.
D is a semicircle.
E is a fork without a handle.
F is a television aerial.
G is a dangerous curve.
H is a rugby goalpost.
I is a straight line.
J is a hook.
K is one line with victory on its side.
L is a corner.
M is like two mountains.
N is Zorro asleep.
O is a circle.
P is a flag.
Q is a circle with one foot.
R is a "P" with a lame leg.
S is the sign of Superman.
T is a telegraph pole.
U is a loadstone on its side.
V is the sign of peace.
W is a double victory.
X marks the place.
Y is an aerial on Mars.
Z is the sign of Zorro.

Eduardo Gonzalez Chillon

With kind permission of the poet, previously published in Poetry as a Foreign Language, edited by Martin Bates, White Adder Press, 1999.

Your turn

In Eduardo's poem each letter is compared to something else to bring it to life. Can you make your own poem about the letters of the alphabet? Perhaps you could use the letters in your name. Send us your poem.