Courtesy of the British Library

Roses are red

violets are blue

I love you in English,

Igbo, and Urdu.

Roses are red

violets are blue

I’ll send you a kiss

from sunny Timbuktu.

Roses are yellow,

violets are purple,

making love in the ocean

may require some snorkels.

Roses are white,

violets are mauve,

Lenin loves workers

but no Romanovs.

Roses are scarlet,

violets are heliotrope,

before the sub rises

remember, “Up, periscope!”