I often think of times when ink,
from blue-black powder made,
was, by split pen-nibs of steel,
upon the paper laid.
When with a spluttering scratch
and spraying mess of blots,
‘t’s were crossed with gusto,
and ‘i’s were topped with dots.
When students' thumbs and fingers
which had the pen contained,
with Stephens’ Blue-Black ink
were brilliantly stained.
Now all is changed for students
within examination halls,
as they swiftly pen their answers
with ink-coated roller-balls.
With pristine thumbs and fingers
and a 'fine' ball-pointed ‘Bic’
no scratch , no blots, just writing
with a line one millimetre thick.
Author notes
Pens formed from quills or split reeds have been used with powdered ink since ancient Egypyian times. But the first ball-point pen was patented by the Biro brothers in 1938, and later, in 1950, the French Baron Bich dropped the 'h' in his name and produced the first Bic ball-point pen.
A contest entry
- Rhyming Ramblings by piccola.
700 points, ended July 20, 2007, 29 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
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We can always learn something new, eh? This was nice to read as well as being informational. Thank you for the entry. It rhymed well and just flowed from line to line.
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Wonderful poem,I enjoyed reading. And recall fountain pens you filled and my blue/black stained fingers in using it.Not quite old enough to of used a quill,but close.
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