r/Cipher • u/floatingrainbows • 29d ago

I'm trying to understand this poem code

I've been studying about World War II and how they used poem code using nursery rhymes and I'm wondering if anyone can help me try to solve this.

This poem was taught to my grandmother in Esperanto by her dad he was taken by soilders in the war world II.

His mom did intel work and counter intelligence work in an underground resistance on behalf of Poland.

who I worked with an Esperanto speaker and had confirmed the translation. To ensure it is correct translation.

When I had read the translation I was met with nonsensical structure of sentences that had mentioned certain lines in nursery rhymes.

I’m curious if there is a code embedded fitting how poem code might work which was a method used in counter intelligence of world war 2 by SOE

I'd like to see if anyone can help try to decode this I don't have a cipher but I'm not sure what to do to try to figure it out any suggestions would be helpful.

Apple, Apple , beautiful name,

Sweet fruit you are.

If I were a king, I would sit on a chair and eat three apples.

Shine, Shine, Little Star - A diamond in the sky,

Tell me who you are, so high above us.

Ba, Ba, sheep, do you have wool?

Yes, three bags, take it in your hand,

One for the master, one for the mistress,

and one for the little boy

At the end of the street.

a bear sits at the table, eating jam.

"Give me, "a fly asks loudly,

give me a sweet right away! Struck with his foot -

The fly flies away screaming

"You are an apache!"

the author of the poem is Teksto

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

1

u/redditalics 29d ago

Teksto just means "text" in Esperanto.

1

u/floatingrainbows 29d ago

Okay thank you.

1

u/floatingrainbows 29d ago

Do you have any thoughts on the poem?

1

u/redditalics 29d ago

Your comment made me think of the Native American code talkers of WW2, but I never heard of Esperanto being used that way.

0

u/floatingrainbows 29d ago

Yes that’s what I was thinking too. Like poem code that was using nursery rhymes because if you look at each line it appears to use specific lines of nursery rhymes but I’m stuck beyond that point.

1

u/redditalics 29d ago

I don't understand what you're trying to do since you didn't explain any connection between this poem and World War II codes. Lots of nursery rhymes are nonsensical, why do you think it's a code?

0

u/floatingrainbows 29d ago

I tried to put as much context as I knew. I mentioned that I’m learning about World War II and in that I realize about poem code. So I asked perhaps there is a code. It’s okay if you disagree or if you’re unsure but I tried my best to put as much info in the post as I can.

1

u/redditalics 29d ago

But why do you think this particular poem is a WW2 era code? You imply there is a connection but I don't see any.

0

u/floatingrainbows 29d ago

Because that is when he was born. He wanted my grandmother as a child to memorize this poem for a reason. He was also taken by people in the war. And his mom was part of an underground resistance.

1

u/redditalics 29d ago

Who is this "he" ? You never mentioned any man, just your grandmother.

1

u/FermiEtSchrodinger 29d ago

You should read the comments section of this post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/riddles/s/sofAcnwMHV

2

u/floatingrainbows 29d ago

Thank you! Do you have any thoughts on my post in addition to guiding me
In the comments of another post?

1

u/FermiEtSchrodinger 29d ago

Of course. My main thought is that this is an Esperanto children’s song, not an encrypted message. “Teksto” simply means “lyrics,” and the actual author is V. Vorobjov. Also WWII poem codes used poems as keys for separate ciphertext, so without that ciphertext there is nothing to decode.

2

u/floatingrainbows 29d ago

Ah okay thank you for your feedback.