(Oxford, UK) – If finding a manuscript with a lost Tolkien short story wasn’t enough to make this day special, then what was found on the back of the manuscript will surely suffice.

Earlier today, researchers at Oxford University announced that they had found a manuscript containing a lost J.R.R. Tolkien short story. The short story was known to exist only because of a letter that Tolkien had written to his friend Owen Barfield.

On the back of manuscript was the following text, at first ignored by the Oxford researchers:

I see no
red

All is
dry

The chickens are
dead

As am
I

At first glance, these words appear to be simple doggerel, but one keen-minded literature student noticed the resemblance of the writing to a famously over-analyzed poem by William Carlos Williams:

The Red Wheelbarrow

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens

It is not known whether the writing on the back of the Tolkien manuscript was written by Tolkien or someone else. However, the handwriting appears very different between the story on the front of the manuscript and the (what can be grudgingly called), poem on the back.

The Oxford literature student is convinced that they have found a lost poem by William Carlos Williams. “I noticed the similarity right away. I’ve spent weeks analyzing that Williams poem. I’d know his writing style anywhere.”

The remaining researchers were not willing to put forth any theories about the writing, and appeared to discard it entirely. “It’s just some horrid verse. Why should we even care? We found a lost Tolkien story; why are we talking about some amateur scribbling on the adverse?”

Composer John Williams, no relation to William Carlos Williams, was willing to comment on the poem. “I’m not sure what you are asking, baby, but I can’t put that to music. Try Brian Eno, or Philip Glass. They’ll do something for you, baby.”

Christopher Tolkien, son of J.R.R Tolkien, was quoted as saying, “Oh my. Didn’t think anyone would see that.”

This mystery may never be solved, yet it somehow further enriches the mystique of the most famous Oxford professor of our time.