Examples of Puns in Literature

A pun is loosely defined as a play on the sound of words to achieve a certain effect. In other words, a pun can:

• Make you laugh
• Make you think
• Increase clarity when we’re trying to discern the meaning of a text
• Introduce ambiguity

Many puns rely on simple homophones (words that sound alike); for instance, “atheism is a non-prophet [non-profit] organization.” Other puns have much deeper meaning. 

Puns in Literature

Puns throughout works of literature add so much to the way the text may be interpreted, and underscore the cleverness of the characters and those who wrote the characters. Brilliant minds from Jesus Christ to Shakespeare used puns to great effect, and these puns continue to resonate with new readers.

Biblical Puns

An ancient treasure-trove of puns is included in many religious texts, but the Christian Bible takes the cake. From the Old Testament to the New, biblical heroes and villains (and the authors of biblical texts) have used puns.

• One of the oldest puns in the world comes from the book of Judges in the Bible, which was written some 3,000 years ago. The tenth chapter of the book of Judges talks of:

thirty sons, who “rode around on thirty burros and lived in thirty boroughs.”

While these words rhyme in English, they were also very similar in the original Hebrew: ayirim for and ‘ayarim for boroughs.

• The prophet Isaiah once predicted terror, pit, and trap (pahad, wa-pahath, and wa-pah) on those living in the earth.

• Even Jesus Christ himself used the occasional pun. The name Peter or Cephas also meant “rock,” and Jesus explained of Peter, “upon this rock I will build my church.”

Both halves of the Bible use puns, some of which do not translate to English, but all of which were clever in their own language.

Shakespearean Puns and Puns in Romeo and Juliet

Perhaps no writer is greater known for his use of the pun than William Shakespeare. Some people even believe he, as a translator of the King James Version of the Bible, inserted a pun on his name into a Psalm!

Some of his puns were relatively simple plays on words, such as

• “it is the unkindest tied that ever any man tied.”

• “winter of our discontent” was “made glorious summer by this Son [son] of York.” (Richard III)

However, some of his puns were more complicated. For example, in Romeo and Juliet:

• When Mercutio begs Romeo to dance, Romeo refuses. Unlike Mercutio’s shoes with “nimble soles,” Romeo says that he has a “soul of lead.”

• At one point, Romeo asks for a torch, saying “being heavy [sad], I will bear the light.”

• One of the cleverest and most morbid poems comes as a joke from a fatally-stabbed Mercutio, who stops joking to explain that “tomorrow … you shall find me a grave man.” Grave means serious, but here it also alludes to his imminent death.

Famous Puns Throughout Poetry

Great poetic works of literature have included puns as well.

Poet John Donne, whose name rhymed with “done,” often punned his name in his own poetry. In one of his hymns, he even puns the name of his wife Anne More, with the line

“Thou hast not done, For I have more.”

Lewis Carroll’s Mad Hatter asked how a raven is like a writing desk, and answered with

“it is nevar put with the wrong end in front!” Obviously, the word “never” here is misspelled in order to appear as “raven” written backwards.

In his book Ulysses, the great Irish writer James Joyce included the brief poem,     

If you see kay      

Tell him he may      

See you in tea      

Tell him from me.

The words to the poem, when spoken phonetically, spell out some rather obvious swear words that would have been readily apparent to a sharp observer.

In modern literature, from the James Bond series to the Harry Potter books, authors have used puns to entertain some of the more perceptive, clever readers.