PITH AND VINEGAR: An Anthology of Short Humorous Poetry

by William--Ed. Cole ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1969

A selection of some mean little snippets of humorous poetry--none over a twelve line limit. Mr. Cole's please ""terse verse"" describes this group exactly. The editor has worked up some playful categories--Word Plays and Tricky Forms, Sex and Such, Wives and Others, The Nature of Things, The Things of Nature, but as in the ditty ""A Thousand Hairy Savages"" by Spike Milligan, it's ""Gobble gobble glup glup/ Munch munch munch"" right straight through without a glance at the headings. There are some distinguished contributors from Arnold and Tennyson to Auden and Yeats, presumably low thoughts in high dudgeon. There is even one unsettling effort by William Blake: ""He has observed the Golden Rule/ Till he's become the Golden Fool."" But then of course O. Nash is here and somehow he's worth all the rest. Witty ditties--generally on the rare-to-rarefied side.

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1969

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1969

Categories: NONFICTION