sonnet
Original: sonnet on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Title/header: BEN JOHNSON'S MOST BEAUTIFUL SONNET LINES, ADJUSTED FOR OTHER LOCATIONS IN SPACE
Panel 1 (labeled [ORIGINAL VERSION]): THIS GRAVE BETAKES THE FLESHLY BIRTH, MARCH COVER LIGHTLY GENTLE EARTH!
Panel 2: THIS GRAVE BETAKES A FLESHLY BALL, MARCH COVER LIGHTLY GENTLE SOL!
Panel 3: THIS GRAVE BETAKES THE FLESHLY CIRCUITRY, MARCH COVER LIGHTLY GENTLE MERCURY!
Panel 4: THIS GRAVE BETAKES FROM HOMO SAPIENS, MARCH COVER LIGHTLY GENTLE VENUS!
Panel 5: THIS GRAVE BETAKES THIS CORPSE OF OURS, MARCH COVER LIGHTLY GENTLE MARS!
Panel 6: THIS GRAVE BETAKES THE ANTHROPOID, MARCH COVER LIGHTLY ASTEROID!
Panel 7: THIS GRAVE BETAKES THE UNALIVE, MARCH COVER LIGHTLY PLANET FIVE!
Panel 8: THIS GRAVE PARTAKES THE FLESHLY PATTERN, MARCH COVER LIGHTLY GENTLE SATURN!
Panel 9: THIS KID IS SUPER DEAD AND THUS, PLEASE COVER LIGHTLY URANUS!
Panel 10: THIS GRAVE BETAKES THE FLESHLY BALLOON, MARCH COVER LIGHTLY PLEASE NEPTUNE!
Votey:
"FLESH BALLOON" IS ALSO WORKABLE ON ANY MOON.
Panel 1 (labeled [ORIGINAL VERSION]): THIS GRAVE BETAKES THE FLESHLY BIRTH, MARCH COVER LIGHTLY GENTLE EARTH!
Panel 2: THIS GRAVE BETAKES A FLESHLY BALL, MARCH COVER LIGHTLY GENTLE SOL!
Panel 3: THIS GRAVE BETAKES THE FLESHLY CIRCUITRY, MARCH COVER LIGHTLY GENTLE MERCURY!
Panel 4: THIS GRAVE BETAKES FROM HOMO SAPIENS, MARCH COVER LIGHTLY GENTLE VENUS!
Panel 5: THIS GRAVE BETAKES THIS CORPSE OF OURS, MARCH COVER LIGHTLY GENTLE MARS!
Panel 6: THIS GRAVE BETAKES THE ANTHROPOID, MARCH COVER LIGHTLY ASTEROID!
Panel 7: THIS GRAVE BETAKES THE UNALIVE, MARCH COVER LIGHTLY PLANET FIVE!
Panel 8: THIS GRAVE PARTAKES THE FLESHLY PATTERN, MARCH COVER LIGHTLY GENTLE SATURN!
Panel 9: THIS KID IS SUPER DEAD AND THUS, PLEASE COVER LIGHTLY URANUS!
Panel 10: THIS GRAVE BETAKES THE FLESHLY BALLOON, MARCH COVER LIGHTLY PLEASE NEPTUNE!
Votey:
"FLESH BALLOON" IS ALSO WORKABLE ON ANY MOON.
Alt text
A ten-panel SMBC comic titled "Ben Johnson's most beautiful sonnet lines, adjusted for other locations in space." Each panel shows a small stylized illustration of a person, robot, or grave on a different celestial body, paired with a rhyming epitaph couplet that ends in the body's name. Panel 1 (marked ORIGINAL VERSION) shows a person on green Earth: "This grave betakes the fleshly birth, march cover lightly gentle Earth!" Subsequent panels rhyme with the Sun ("fleshly ball"/"Sol"), Mercury ("circuitry"), Venus ("homo sapiens"), Mars ("corpse of ours"), an asteroid ("the anthropoid"), Planet Five ("the unalive"), Saturn ("fleshly pattern"), and Neptune ("fleshly balloon"). The joke peaks at the Uranus panel: "This kid is super dead and thus, please cover lightly Uranus!" The aftercomic (votey) is a single panel of text reading: "'Flesh balloon' is also workable on any moon."
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.