Ninety years ago today, the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary – 414,825 words defined in 15,487 pages over 12 volumes – was completed. Invited by its editors to mark the anniversary, I’ve made a new book spine poem, dedicated to the OED and to James Murray:
*
Walking Word by Word
Caught in the web of words,
The loom of language,
The stuff of thought,
The story of writing –
a line made by
walking word by
word through the
language glass.
*
17 Comments | 
books, lexicography, poetry, wordplay | Tagged: Andrew Robinson, book spine poem, book spine poems, bookmash, books, concrete poetry, dictionaries, found poetry, Frederick Bodmer, Guy Deutscher, James Murray, K M Elisabeth Murray, Kory Stamper, language, lexicography, OED, photography, poetry, Sara Baume, Steven Pinker, visual poetry, wordplay | 
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