Lit' and Lang' is a song written by J.R.R. Tolkien, to be sung to the tune of Polly Put the Kettle On. It is published as the 28th song in Songs for the Philologists in 1936. (listed in the table of contents as "Two Little Schemes")
It originally contained direct references to Leeds University, and was altered to omit them during printing. Tolkien noted, in 1966, that the alterations had the unfortunate side effect of breaking the rhyme.[1]
- Background
In the Department of English at the University of Oxford where Tolkien worked, teaching was divided into two streams. "Lit'" meant "English Literature", i.e. the study of works from Shakespeare to modern times, whereas "Lang'" meant "English Language", meaning the philological study of Old English texts such as Beowulf, and Middle English, such as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Tolkien and Gordon were philologists and firmly in the "Lang'" camp, but they could see that it was dying out.
Poem excerpt
Lit' and Lang'
Once there were two little groups,
Once there were two little groups,
Once there were two little groups,
Called Lit' and Lang'.
Lit' was lazy till she died,
Lit' was lazy till she died,
Lit' was lazy till she died,
Of homophemes.
'I don't like philology,'
Poor Lit' said.
Psychotherapeutics failed,
And now she's dead.
References
- ↑ Hammond, W. G., Scull, C. [1993] J.R.R. Tolkien: A Descriptive Bibliography