Werewolves of London

If you hear him howling around your kitchen door
Better not let him in
Little old lady got mutilated late last night
Werewolves of London again

~ Warren Zevon

This former English teacher was a big fan of Warren Zevon.  (I even had a cat named Zevon.)  And when it came time to teach poetic devices in Creative Writing, Warren was there to help me out.  Okay, POP QUIZ!!!  What poetic device is illustrated in the lines above?  Take your time.  I'll wait.

Okay, if you said rhythm or rhyme, I could not mark you wrong.  But the answer I am looking for is (as my former students reading this know) ALLITERATION!

Pay attention to the "L"s:  Little old lady got mutilated late last night.  Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginnings of words close together.  Think tongue twisters.

Bonus points if you found ASSONANCE, the repetition of vowel sounds in words close together.  Notice the long a in lady, mutilated, and late.

Okay, class dismissed.

Werewolves of London was the only Warren Zevon song to make the Top 40. How sad is that?  And it still has life, especially around Halloween.  But Warren was much more prolific than that.  Poor, Poor Pitiful Me.  Excitable Boy.  And so many others.  His last CD before he died in 2003, The Wind, contains some beauties that will break your heart.  Warren was a beloved friend of David Letterman.  In one guest appearance before his death, David asked Warren if he had any advice to share.  Warren's response is classic:  Enjoy every sandwich.  (That phrase became the title of a collection of Warren Zevon covers released in 2004.)

As for werewolves, also known as man-wolves or lycanthropes, they are shapeshifters, able to change from man to wolf either purposely or after being placed under a curse or affliction.  Once again, I am drawn to the current political climate, especially when considering that Nazi Germany used Werwolf (the German spelling) in 1942-43 as the codename for one of Hitler's headquarters.  I think there's a picture of Hitler holding a Chinese menu in his hand while there.

Wow, I just realized that as I am writing this post, there's a full moon!  A-hooooo!