The Oxford Book of Comic VerseJohn Gross, John J. Gross "Comic verse," writes editor John Gross, "is verse that is designed to amuse--and perhaps that is as far as any attempt at a definition ought to go." In The Oxford Book of Comic Verse, Gross has combed the annals of literature in English from the middle ages to the present, gathering poems that provoke laughter, smiles, and even reflections on the human condition--but always poems that amuse. From limericks to social satire, The Oxford Book of Comic Verse offers a remarkable collection of outstanding light poetry. Gross has brought together the finest writers in the history of the English language--from Chaucer and Skelton to Shakespeare and Swift, Lord Byron to Robert Browning, Emily Dickinson to John Updike--offering delightful examples of their comic verse. Many of these lines dance with whimsy, such as John Skelton's Colin Clout ("For though my rhyme be ragged, / Tattered and jagged, / Rudely rain-beaten, / Rusty and moth-eaten, / If ye take well therewith, / It hath in it some pith"); others float heavier thoughts on light rhymes--as in Matthew Prior's succinct Human Life ("What trifling coil do we poor mortals keep;/ Wake, eat, and drink, evacuate and sleep."). The range of writers who have composed comic verse is astonishing, as is the delight of the poems themselves. Here we read T.S. Eliot mocking himself ("How unpleasant to meet Mr. Eliot!/ With his features of clerical cut"); poet and Soviet historian Robert Conquest, mingling his two professions in a limerick ("There was a great Marxist called Lenin/ Who did two or three million men in/ --That's a lot to have done in/ --But where he did one in/ That grand Marxist Stalin did ten in"); and Wendy Cope commenting on her disillusionment with poets ("I used to think all poets were Byronic./ They're mostly wicked as ginless tonic/ And wild as pension plans"). And along the way, we are treated to witty song lyrics as well, from First World War soldiers' tunes, to Irving Berlin, to Cole Porter, to Lorenz Hart ("When love congeals/It soon reveals/ the faint aroma of performing seals/The double-crossing of a pair of heels/I wish I were in love again!"). Whether it comes from anonymous popular culture or the icons of the literary canon, comic verse has been a source of pleasure and diversion through the ages--a combination of wit, verbal artistry, and even serious contemplation. This collection, compiled by one of our finest critics and anthologists, brings this tradition into the hands of today's readers, offering hours of delight. |
Contents
ROBERT WISDOME d 1568 | 14 |
RICHARD BISHOP CORBET 15821635 | 21 |
CHARLES COTTON 16301687 | 27 |
TOM BROWN 16631704 | 33 |
JONATHAN SWIFT 16671745 | 39 |
WILLIAM CONGREVE 16701729 | 45 |
from The Spleen | 61 |
JOHN BANKS 17091751 | 65 |
A Little Lamb | 311 |
OGDEN NASH 19021971 | 313 |
Samson Agonistes | 314 |
Grandpa Is Ashamed | 315 |
A Word to Husbands | 316 |
On the Same | 317 |
Wake | 318 |
Emily Writes Such a Good Letter | 319 |
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN 17511816 | 76 |
CATHERINE FANSHAWE 17651834 | 83 |
GEORGE CANNING 17701827 | 87 |
Announcement of a New Grand Acceleration Company | 95 |
GEORGE GORDON LORD BYRON 17881824 | 101 |
R H BARHAM 17881845 | 109 |
THOMAS HAYNES BAYLY 17971839 | 117 |
THOMAS HOOD 17991845 | 118 |
Sonnet to Vauxhall | 119 |
A Public Dinner | 121 |
No | 125 |
Thy Heart | 130 |
GoodNight to the Season | 132 |
JAMES CLARENCE MANGAN 18031849 | 135 |
BENJAMIN HALL KENNEDY 18041889 | 136 |
CHARLES LEVER 18061872 | 137 |
ALFRED LORD TENNYSON 18091892 | 138 |
OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES 18091894 | 140 |
WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY 18111863 | 142 |
The Speculators | 143 |
Dear Jack | 144 |
Rhyme for a Child Viewing a Naked Venus in a Painting | 145 |
The Owl and the PussyCat | 146 |
Our Mother Was the PussyCat | 147 |
Incidents in the Life of my Uncle Arly | 149 |
BON GAULTIER William Aytoun 18131865 and Sir Theodore Martin 18161909 | 150 |
The Royal Banquet | 151 |
ARTHUR HUGH CLOUGH 18191861 | 153 |
JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 18191891 | 156 |
from A Fable for Critics | 157 |
FREDERICK LOCKERLAMPSON 18211895 | 158 |
THOROLD ROGERS 18231890 | 159 |
Epitaph | 160 |
MORTIMER COLLINS 18271876 | 161 |
DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI 18281882 | 162 |
S CALVERLEY 18311884 | 163 |
Flight | 164 |
Ballad | 166 |
LEWIS CARROLL 18321898 | 168 |
A Long Tale | 169 |
Father William | 170 |
Tis the Voice of the Lobster | 171 |
GEORGE DU MAURIER 18341896 | 177 |
A Thought from Ruddigore | 184 |
ANONYMOUS | 190 |
PERCY FRENCH 18541920 | 196 |
J W MACKAIL 18591945 and CECIL | 202 |
ERNEST LAWRENCE THAYER 18631940 | 208 |
GELETT BURGESS 18661951 | 214 |
GEORGE ADE 18661944 | 215 |
E G MURPHY Dryblower 18671939 | 216 |
In the Days of Old Rameses | 218 |
HILAIRE BELLOC 18701953 | 219 |
Obiter Dicta | 220 |
Is There Any Reward? | 221 |
Imitation | 222 |
A H SIDGWICK f 1900 | 223 |
ARTHUR GUITERMAN 18711943 | 224 |
Chorus of a Song that Might Have Been Written by Albert Chevalier | 225 |
from Old Surrey Saws and Sayings | 226 |
The Shubble | 227 |
Elinor Glyn | 228 |
The Fat White Woman Speaks | 229 |
On Reading God | 230 |
ROBERT FROST 18741963 | 232 |
Lucretius versus the Lake Poets | 233 |
An Answer | 234 |
HARRY GRAHAM 18741936 | 240 |
CLARENCE DAY 18741936 | 243 |
ROBERT W SERVICE 18741958 | 245 |
BENTLEY 18751956 | 247 |
T W CONNOR d 1936 | 249 |
BILLY MERSON 18811947 | 255 |
Blue Blood | 261 |
W N EWER 18851977 | 267 |
To a Pessimist | 273 |
SAMUEL HOFFENSTEIN 18901947 | 279 |
Im Fond of Doctors | 280 |
from Songs of Fairly Utter Despair | 281 |
The Pig | 282 |
Brush Up your Shakespeare | 283 |
MORRIS BISHOP 18931973 | 285 |
The Adventures of Id | 286 |
J B MORTON Beachcomber 18931979 | 287 |
Comment | 288 |
PHILIP HESELTINE 18941930 | 289 |
mr u | 290 |
ALDOUS HUXLEY 18941963 | 291 |
from Antic Hay | 292 |
Travellers Curse after Misdirection | 293 |
Epitaph on an Unfortunate Artist | 295 |
from Easy Exercises in the Use of Difficult Words | 296 |
Enemies of Promise | 297 |
A G STRONG 18961958 | 298 |
IRA GERSHWIN 18961983 | 299 |
SAGITTARIUS Olga Katzin 18961987 | 300 |
The Passionate Profiteer to his Love | 301 |
When I Was Christened | 302 |
An Epitaph | 303 |
Beoleopard or The Witans Whail | 304 |
Irish Song | 306 |
JOSEPH MONCURE MARCH 18991977 | 307 |
The Grange | 320 |
EVELYN WAUGH 19031966 | 321 |
Three Ghostesses | 322 |
Headline History | 324 |
CYRIL CONNOLLY 19031974 | 325 |
On Geoffrey Grigson | 326 |
PHYLLIS MCGINLEY 19051978 | 327 |
City Christmas | 328 |
The Velvet Hand | 329 |
Hunter Trials | 330 |
Reproof Deserved or After the Lecture 380 The Old Land Dog | 332 |
The Ballad of George R Sims | 333 |
LUIS dANTIN VAN ROOTEN 19061973 | 334 |
Scones | 336 |
JOHN SPARROW 19061992 | 338 |
W H AUDEN 19071973 | 339 |
Give me a doctor | 341 |
The Aesthetic Point of View | 342 |
NICHOLAS BENTLEY 19071978 | 344 |
The Londonderry Air | 345 |
PATRICK BARRINGTON 19081990 | 349 |
Take me in your Arms Miss MoneypennyWilson | 350 |
THEODORE ROETHKE 19081963 | 351 |
PETER DE VRIES 19101993 | 357 |
LAWRENCE DURRELL 19121990 | 363 |
MICHAEL BURN 1912 | 364 |
DYLAN THOMAS 19141953 | 365 |
JOHN BERRYMAN 19141972 | 366 |
R P LISTER 1914 | 367 |
A Mind Reborn in Streatham Common | 368 |
HENRY REED 19141986 | 369 |
HARRY HEARSON f 1940 | 370 |
To the Virgins to Make the Most of Time | 371 |
One for the Anthologies | 372 |
The Semantic Limerick According to the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary 1933 | 373 |
The Owl Writes a Detective Story | 374 |
Its Hard to Dislike Ewart | 375 |
Progress | 377 |
JOHN HEATHSTUBBS 1918 | 378 |
Footnote to Bellocs Tarantella | 379 |
LOUISE BENNETT 1919 | 380 |
WILLIAM COLE 1919 | 381 |
Harry Pollitt Was a Bolshie | 382 |
ALEXANDER SCOTT 1920 | 383 |
HOWARD NEMEROV 19201991 | 385 |
J ENRIGHT 1920 | 386 |
from Paradise Illustrated | 387 |
Posterity | 388 |
RICHARD WILBUR 1921 | 389 |
Shame | 390 |
PHILIP LARKIN 19221985 | 391 |
A Study of Reading Habits | 392 |
Limericks | 393 |
KINGSLEY AMIS 1922 | 394 |
Mightier than the Pen | 395 |
VERNON SCANNELL 1922 | 396 |
Protest Poem | 397 |
LORD BEGINNER Egbert Moore f 1950 | 398 |
ANTHONY BUTTS f 1950 | 400 |
VINCENT BUCKLEY 19251988 | 409 |
TOM LEHRER 1928 | 415 |
CONNIE BENSLEY 1929 | 418 |
ANTHONY THWAITE 1930 | 424 |
GEORGE STARBUCK 1931 | 430 |
SHEL SILVERSTEIN 1932 | 434 |
JAMES SIMMONS 1933 | 435 |
BARRY HUMPHRIES 1934 | 436 |
CHRIS WALLACECRABBE 1934 | 438 |
FLEUR ADCOCK 1934 | 439 |
JOHN FULLER 1937 and JAMES FENTON 1949 516 The Red Light District Nurse | 440 |
Born Too Soon | 442 |
ROGER MCGOUGH 1937 | 444 |
Survivor | 445 |
LES A MURRAY 1938 | 446 |
CLIVE JAMES 1939 | 448 |
From Robert Lowells Notebook | 449 |
TOM DISCH 1940 | 451 |
Zewhyexary | 452 |
BASIL RANSOMEDAVIES 1940 | 453 |
E J THRIBB 529 Lines on the Award Pipe Man of the Year to Magnus Magnusson | 454 |
In Memoriam Larry Parnes Mr Parnes Shillings and Pence | 455 |
In Memoriam Salvador Dali | 456 |
JOHN MOLE 1941 | 459 |
KIT WRIGHT 1944 | 460 |
Unlikely Obbligato of Andersonstown | 461 |
Underneath the Archers or Whats All This about Walters Willy? | 462 |
PAUL DURCAN 1944 | 464 |
Têteàtête in the Parish Priests Parlour | 465 |
Engineers Corner | 466 |
Triolet | 467 |
Serious Concerns | 468 |
DAVID LEHMAN 1948 | 470 |
JAMES FENTON 1949 | 471 |
CHRISTOPHER REID 1949 | 472 |
A Perversion RICHARD TIPPING 1949 | 473 |
SEAN OBRIEN 1952 | 474 |
VIKRAM SETH 1952 | 476 |
Acknowledgements | 486 |
Index of First Lines | 495 |
83 | 504 |
Index of Authors | 509 |
Copyright | |