by Amy Wang
The American poet and writer Edgar Allen Poe once said that a good poem ought to be read in “a single sitting.” Considering the impatient nature of most moderns, light verse, usually quite short, surely possesses potential for being the sublime genre of the age. A very popular form of light verse is the limerick. Composed mostly for the sake of the rhyme, its content is usually nonsensical. 1. There Was a Young Lady Called Bright There was a young lady called Bright Who would travel faster than light. She started one day In the relative way And returned the previous night. —Anonymous Because light verse has quite a close connection with what is happening around us, it often contains contemporary issues, like this one on oil spills, a parody of “sing a song of sixpence”: 2. Sing a Song of Spillage Sing a song of spillage-- A tanker’s fouled the shore; Four-and-twenty black birds-- They were white before. —Frank Jacobs As we have seen, light verse talks about serious subjects as well as silly ones, but always in a light-hearted tone. In fact, light verse does not necessarily make us laugh. More often it invokes smiles, sometimes an understanding one, sometimes a wry one. These lines on life, for example: 3. Life “Life’s not worth living, and that’s the truth,” Carelessly caroled the golden youth. In manhood still he maintained that view And held it more strongly the older he grew. When kicked by a jackass at eighty-three, “Go fetch me a surgeon at once!” cried he. —Ambrose Bierce Light verse not only makes general statements about life. It covers periods extending from childhood to the grave. No. 4 describes how a child reacts when seeing a piece of art: 4. Rhyme for a Child Viewing a Naked Venus in a Painting He gazed and gazed and gazed and gazed, Amazed, amazed, amazed, amazed. —Robert Browning Children grow up, and are engaged in the everlasting battle between men and women. No. 5 is an attack on silly women: 5. Miscalculation In Lent, as a penance, A woman in Gissing Denied herself dancing, Carousing, and kissing. “Besides,” she confessed, “I can do with a rest.” One assumes God is pleased, But her boyfriend is missing. —Bruce E. Newling But this one hits at the shallowness of men: 6. News Item Men seldom make passes At girls who wear glasses. —Dorthy Parker Dorthy Parker, an American journalist in the early twentieth century, made these two short lines so famous that several people followed up on them. 7. Dorthy Parker Update Men often lose their senses Over girls who wear contact lenses. —Dorothy Dreher 8. Furthur Update on an Unending Bulletin I heard a woman mutter: Glasses or no glasses, It neither hinders nor hurts, For men will make passes At anything in skirts. —Anonymous 9. Eyeglasses or No… Men often get amorous With girls who are mammarous —Bob McKenty After strutting and fretting their hours, the poor players on the stage of life are at last heard no more. Light verse now tells of life’s sound and fury, but it doesn’t signify nothing. Here’s someone who came to rest after a busy life in politics: 10. On a Deceased Office Seeker: An Epitaph At last elected this low place to fill, No longer running now, but lying still. —Laurence Perrine And finally, one of my favorites: 11. My Own Epitaph Life is a jest, and all things show it; I thought so once, but now I know it. —John Gay Well Now we all know it. a
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Authors
The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
|