Gravity's Rainbow

by

Thomas Pynchon

Excellent German Words

These are some of my favorites from http://www.hyperarts.com/pynchon/gravity/extra/german.html

Weltschmerz

world-weariness

Leunahalluziationen

gasoline hallucination

Schweinheldfest

pig-hero festival

Purpurstoff

purple substance

Folgsamkeitfaktor

obedience factor

Versuchsanstalt

research institute, experimental station

Urstoff

primordial stuff

Kadavergehorsamkeit

corpse-like obedience, i.e., slavish obedience

Hinterhof

back-courtyard

Bohnenkaffee

pure coffee

Rocket Limericks

(These are interspersed on pages 305-335)

There once was a thing called a V-2
To pilot which you did not need to-
You just pushed a button,
And it would leave nuttin'
But stiffs and big holes and debris, too.

<refrain:>
Ja, ja, ja, ja!
In Prussia they never eat pussy!
There ain't hardly cats enough,
There's garbage and that's enough,
So waltz me around again, Russky!

There was a young fellow named Crockett,
Who had an affair with a rocket.
If you saw them out there
You'd be tempted to stare,
But if you ain't tried it, don't knock it!

There was a young fellow named Hector,
Who was fond of a launcher-erector.
But the squishes and pops
Of acute pressure drops
Wrecked Hector's hydraulic connector.

There once was a fellow named Moorehead,
Who had an affair with a warhead.
His wife moved away
The very next day-
She *was* always kind of a sorehead.

There was a technician named Urban,
Who had an affair with a turbine.
"It's much nicer," he said,
"Than a woman in bed,
And it's sure as hell cheaper than bourbon!"

There once was a fellow named Slattery
Who was fond of the course-gyro battery.
With that 50-volt shock,
What was left of his cock
Was all slimy and sloppy and spattery.

There was a young fellow named Pope,
Who plugged into an *os*-cillo-*scope*.
The cyclical trace
Of their carnal embrace
Had a damn nearly infinite slope.

There was a young fellow named Yuri,
Fucked the nozzle right up its venturi.
He had woes without cease
From his local police,
And a hell of a time with the jury

There was a young man named McGuire,
Who was fond of the pitch amplifier.
But a number of shorts
Left him covered with warts,
And set half the bedroom on fire.

There once was a fellow named Ritter,
Who slept with a guidance transmitter.
It shriveled his cock,
Which fell off in his sock,
And made him exceedingly bitter.

There once was a fellow named Schroeder,
Who buggered the vane servomotor.
He soon grew a prong
On the end of his schlong,
And hired himself a promoter.

There was a young man from Decatur,
Who slept with a LOX generator.
His balls and his prick
Froze solid read quick,
And his asshole a little bit later.