Ogden Nash is one of my favourite poets. And we have read many of his poems in MHFL over the years.
Recently I discovered another poet who wrote humorous poetry and had a style very similar to Nash. Arthur Guiterman was an American poet and lived from 1871 to 1943. In today’s MHFL we will read two of his poems.
The first one is about greatness. But before we start, note that mastodons are an extinct species of elephant like creatures. Mastodons had long curved tusks which they used for fighting.
On the Vanity of Earthly Greatness
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The tusks which clashed in mighty brawls
Of mastodons, are billiard balls.
The sword of Charlemagne the Just
Is Ferric Oxide, known as rust.
The grizzly bear, whose potent hug,
Was feared by all, is now a rug.
Great Caesar’s bust is on the shelf,
And I don’t feel so well myself.
And now we have a poem on travelers and travelling :
The Traveler
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Oh, who would choose to be a traveler?-
That anxious railway-guide unraveler,
Who spends his nights in berths and bunks,
His days in chaperoning trunks;
Who stands in line at gates and wickets
To spend his means on costly tickets
To Irkutsk, Liverpool and Yap
And other dots upon the map.
He never rests, but always hurries
From place to place, beset with worries
About hotels and future trips
And just how much to give in tips.
He plods through galleries, museums,
Cathedrals, castles, colosseums,
And villages reputed quaint
With patience worthy of a saint
To give his friends the chance of hooting,
‘You didn’t visit Little Tooting?!!’
Kanwar
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Don’t tell your friends about your indigestion.
‘How are you’ is a greeting, not a question.
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Poetry Mehfil 