Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Ogden Nash the Legendary

Ogden Nash is well known in the world of literature, especially since he worked for The New Yorker for some time. Mr. Nash was born in 1902 in Rye, New York. According to poets.org his first book of published poems had seven print runs in its first year alone. Aren’t you just jealous? I know I am. Mr. Nash also appeared on radio and television therefore drawing quite an audience. Again, aren’t you just jealous? I picked up The Pocket Book of Ogden Nash published by Washington Square Press at the local library. The titles of his poems alone were enough to have me snatching it off the shelf. Ogden Nash passed away in 1971, sadly, but his words are still a fantastic read. He is witty and humorous, his poems often rhyme, and again, his titles alone are enough entertainment! Some examples of great titles are “Curl Up and Diet,” “Kindly Unhitch That Star, Buddy,” and “Polterguest, My Polterguest…” Wouldn’t you just love to find out what these poems say based on the titles alone? “Poltergues, My Poltergues” is about a most undesirable guest, of course, whom Mr. Nash admits that if he had to deal with her again would be much more likely to throw her under the train than help her onto it. Lines such as “She clogged the pipes and she blew the fuses,/she broke the rocker that grandma uses/… give you just a taste of what the detestable Ms. Hopper wrought upon Nash’s household. There are countless poems that will bring no less than a wide grin to your face so if you haven’t already done so, I suggest you read up on Ogden Nash.

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/673

Thank you for reading and please come by tomorrow for poems found around the world wide web…

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