The Wise Fen and The Filk
A poem by Harold Feld
As posted in rec.music.filk; inspired by John Godfrey Saxe's 'Five Wise Men and the Elephant.'
(new words included with permission from the author)

It was five wise fen of Worldcon once
To learning much inclined,
Who went to listen to the filk to see what they would find
That each by observation might satisfy her mind

The first came to a humor room
Where folks with vim and glee
Were singing "Bash the Balrog!" so the fan said "Now I see!
God bless me but this filk is merely comic parody!"

What the second heard in minor key
Sent her heart right to her toes
How Ian lost his puppy after slaughtering his foes
"The songs they sing at filks," she said, "are really quite morose!"

The third approached the filking throng
And happening to hear
A filker sing the praises of the world's first Hyper-beer
"Filk's funny and original," she said "that much is clear!"

The fourth came in and settled down
"Green Hills of Earth" she heard
And Kipling set to music and the songs from Tolkien's hoard
"I see filkers only write their tunes to someone else's words!"

The fifth came in after midnight
And soon became quite vexed
To hear of Tops and Bottoms in arrangements quite complex.
"These filthy fannish filkers only want to sing of sex!"

And so these five fen of Worldcon
Disputed loud and long
Each in her own opinion exceeding stiff and strong
Though each was partly in the right -- and all were in the wrong!