The Proofreader’s Nighrmare

An amusing poem written by Frank Granger.

all the sentences started with lower case.
The 3 em indent was way two much space.
The Futuria type was very, very bold,
Also not the face the customer was sold.

Of linespacing theree was plenty.
Who’d ever heard of ten on twenty.
From the word shirt they dropped a letter.
She would tell you, it could be be better.

The ink was green – it should have been red,
“Here’s another P.E..” someone said.
There were more typos here than one could guess.
Oh, how did it ever get to press?

A million impressions? Already delivered?
And still more mistakes. She only quivered.
Maybe. It was someone else’s goof?
No, her were here initials righ on the proof.

The proofreader awoke, and set up in bed!
Ouch! What a feeling she had in her head!
But what a relief, it was only a dream,
And from now on, no more pickles and ice cream.

Note: This poem is full of intentional Printer’s Errors or “P.E.’s.” Educators might present this to a proofreading class to see if the students can catch all the mistakes.

Did you enjoy this poem? If so, you may be interested to know that it appears in “Printers’ Tales” available as a paperback or ebook.

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