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Tuesday 14 October 2014

Nonsense Poetry

I love  Nonsense Poetry.

Amongst my favourite writers of Nonsense verse are Ogden Nash,  Edward Lear and the highly acclaimed Liverpool poet  Roger McGough,  ( part of my subject matter for the letter M).

 There are many more, indeed too many to write about so, I have picked Ogden Nash the American journalist and poet.



 

This is one of my favourite poems by him, he was such a wordsmith he mixed his words with occasional hilarious insight almost turning his work into a parable.


Consider the auk
becoming extinct because he forgot how to fly
Consider man who may become extinct
Because he forgot how to walk and learned how to fly before he thinked! 
 
 

Good-by  Now or pardon my Gauntlet .

Bring down the moon for genteel Janet;
She's too refined for this gross planet
She wears garments and you wear clothes
You buy stockings, she purchases hose.
She says That is correct,
and you say Yes.
And she disrobes and you undress.
Confronted by a mouse or moose,
You turn green, she turns chartreuse.
Her speech is new minted freshly quarried
She has a fore-head you have a forehead
Nor snake nor slow worm
draweth nigh her ,
You go to bed, she doth retire.
To Janet births are blessed events
And odours that you smell she scents
Replete she feels when her food is yummy
Not in the stomach but in the tummy.
If urged some novel step to show
You say like this, she says, Like so
Her dear ones don't die but pass away,
Beneath her formal is longeray
Of refinement she's a fount or a fountess
And that is why she's now a Countess
She was asking for the little girls room
And a flunky thought she said
 the Earls room.
 
My thanks to the epitome of niceness Denise, for devising Abcw and to Roger our nimble Administrator for keeping us going. 

 
 

 
 
  
 
 

 

 
 
 
 

 

 

 

22 comments:

  1. Always particularly liked NASH.

    ROG, ABCW

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  2. Fun post for ABC ~ sometimes we all need some nonsense ~ thanks!


    Happy Week to you ~ artmusedog and carol (A Creative Harbor)

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  3. I love his writing Roger so clever almost in the style of the clerihew, just love it.
    Hope you've had a good vacation,

    regards Di xx

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  4. Such a cute poem--laughter is such good medicine.
    Ann

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  5. Hi Carol,
    Quite right too, we certainly do need a little nonsense in our lives.
    After raising three zany daughters and now four equally zany grandchildren......plenty of nonsense here then !

    Best wishes,
    Di xx

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  6. Loved this Di - will check out his work - a great thing about ABC Wednesday - it gets us thinking!
    Denise ABC Team xxxxx

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  7. Wonderful to read these poems. They add a lot of new words to my limited vocabulary. I like this play with words. Of course we also have these poets, who use synonyms with double meanings.
    When I was engaged to be married I came into a complete different social circle. They used a kind of language that was Dutch of course, but very high-brow. I was often confused by them, until I noticed that I could do the same to them, speaking a language from my social circle but without offending them.I showed them that I was not impressed by them.I often used words used by people who had lived in the colonies( for us the East Indies) and I saw that they were confused and asked me what I meant, and I learned that I could ask what they meant when they used an expression unknown to me.
    Thank you for this post!
    Have a great day.
    Wil, ABCW Team

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  8. Hello Ann I think you are so right.
    Nothing like laughter to light up a room.


    best wishes Di x

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  9. Hello Denise,
    glad you like Ogden Nash's prose, you check it out you'll love it, particularly with your wonderful sense of humour.
    Sure is a great thing about Abcw
    it does get us thinking, I'm so glad you introduced me to it.
    Hope the planting is done?

    Love Di xx

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  10. Reader Wil,
    So good to read your kind words and also that you enjoyed reading the poems.
    Well done taking on 'the high brows'....There is a lot of snobbery about languages and we can only speak in the tongue in which we were taught!
    Your philosophy by speaking in your own language prompted them to ask for explanations, thus allowing you to do the same when you didn't understand..
    Ogden Nash is well worth 'looking up', if you feel so inclined.
    Have a wonderful weekend,
    Love Di xx

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  11. I really enjoy Ogden Nash's works too. :-)

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  12. I haven't read Nash for years, a nice reminder of how wonderfully inventive he was with words.

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  13. What fun with Ogden Nash. The poems made me smile.

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  14. Fredamans: Thank you for your comments.
    I'm glad you enjoy Ogden Nash's works, he was so droll, really could spin a yarn or two, never fails to make me smile.

    Best wishes,
    Di
    abcw team.

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  15. Hi Joy,
    I must admit that I haven't read his works for a while but then he came to mind when I was thinking about my subject matter for the letter N.
    I do like a bit nonsense from time to time rather fond of Hilaire Belloc too!

    Best wishes.
    Di xx

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  16. Oakland Daily Photo:
    Hello thanks for dropping by.
    Glad Ogden Nash made you smile, I find his works most amusing.
    I enjoyed reading your post about the lake. As I didn't know where it was I googled it, and what wonderful place to live!
    America is an amazing country I would love to visit again sometime soon!
    Best wishes,
    Di.

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  17. Hi,
    The poem is a satire on the style of highbrow society, veiled in amusing but apt expressions.Reminds me of English poet Alexander Pope's 'THE RAPE OF THE LOCK.'

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  18. Poetry has never been my thing per se but you have me interested now that I know of this nonsense poetry - more intriguing to me. I have attended one 'poetry slam' event and I loved it! Must look up Mr Nash for a dash of nonsense later today :)

    Cheers,
    Susan

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  19. Hello Uppal,
    Thank you for your
    comments, good to hear from you.
    You're quite right in comparing Nash's work with Pope's, similar style of writing.
    When thinking of Alexander Pope, this verse comes to mind:

    'Hope springs eternal in the human breast
    Man never is, but always to be blest.
    The soul, uneasy and confin'd from home,
    Rests and expatiates in a life to come.'

    Best wishes,
    Di.x

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  20. Hi Susan,
    Good to hear from you again. I didn't care much for poetry until I met Roger Mcgough, my former tutor and renown Liverpool poet,(the chap I mentioned in my M post). I learned so much from him in such a short time.
    I hope you enjoy researching Ogden Nash and enjoy his sublime writing,
    love Di. xx

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  21. Hello, Trubes! I thank you also for including Ogden Nash this week! I need to read more! I love his astute silliness! :-)

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  22. Hello Shady Gardener,
    Good to hear from you and than you for your comments.
    I'm pleased you like Mr Nash, he wasn't widely read when I was a youngster, I was introduced to him by a tutor in college, who was also, then, an aspiring poet.
    His name is Roger Mcgough and is a much loved writer/poet/broadcaster in the UK. I wrote about him in my M post.

    Best wishes,
    Di.

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I usually like to reply to your comments but for some reason when i do post a reply it just diappears, any advice would be most welcome,Thanks Di x

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