Double dactyls: T’tzavveh

Urimmy, Tumimmy,
Breastplates and headdresses:
Priesthood’s not priesthood with-
Out some panache.

Carefully place all this
Paraphernalia
Into a tent made of
Skin of tachash.*

*We have no clue what animal this was. The 1918 Jewish Publication Society translation calls it a seal; the infinitely more sensible 1985 JPS translation calls it a dolphin. Both of these creatures would, of course, have been readily available to nomads living in the Sinai desert. Less plausibly, but – let’s be honest – not much less plausibly, the Talmud says it’s a unicorn.

You can play too by posting in the comments! A reminder of the rules of the “dismally difficult” double dactyl:

1. There must be eight lines.
2. Lines 1-3 and 5-7 must each consist of a pair of dactyls (that is, dum-der-der dum-der-der).
3. Lines 4 and 8 must be choriambs (that is, dum-der-der-dum).
4. Lines 4 and 8 must rhyme.
5. Line 1 must be nonsense.
6. Line 2 must be the subject of the poem, ideally a name that is itself a pair of dactyls (eg ‘Laurence Olivier’).
7. Line 6 must be a single word that is itself a pair of dactyls (eg ‘cardiovascular’).

And my own past entries can be found here.