Section: «Poems»
Verse (ancient Greek ὁ στίχος — row, structure), a term in versification used in several meanings:
artistic speech organized by division into rhythmically commensurate segments; poetry in the narrow sense; in particular, it implies the properties of versification of a particular tradition ("antique verse", "Akhmatova's verse", etc.);
a line of poetic text organized according to a certain rhythmic pattern ("My uncle of the most honest rules").
The Terrible People
People who have what they want are very fond of telling people who haven't what they want that they really don't want it,And I wish I could afford to..
© Ogden Nash
The Germ
A mighty creature is the germ,Though smaller than the pachyderm.His customary dwelling placeIs deep within the human race.His childish pride he often..
© Ogden Nash
No Doctor's Today, Thank You
They tell me that euphoria is the feeling of feeling wonderful,well, today I feel euphorian,Today I have the agility of a Greek god and the..
© Ogden Nash
Song Of The Open Road
I think that I shall never seeA billboard lovely as a treeIndeed, unless the billboards fallI'll never see a tree at all.
© Ogden Nash
Just Keep Quiet And Nobody Will Notice
There is one thing that ought to be taught in all the colleges,Which is that people ought to be taught not to go around always making apologies.I..
© Ogden Nash
The Camel
The camel has a single hump;The dromedary , two;Or else the other way around.I'm never sure. Are you?
© Ogden Nash
One From One Leaves Two
Higgledy piggledy, my black hen,She lays eggs for gentlemen.Gentlemen come every dayTo count what my black hen doth lay.If perchance she lays too..
© Ogden Nash
Tin Wedding Whistle
Though you know it anyhowListen to me, darling, now,Proving what I need not proveHow I know I love you, love.Near and far, near and far,I am happy..
© Ogden Nash
Very Like A Whale
One thing that literature would be greatly the better forWould be a more restricted employment by the authors of simile andmetaphor.Authors of all..
© Ogden Nash
Winter Complaint
Now when I have a coldI am careful with my cold,I consult a physicianAnd I do as I am told.I muffle up my torsoIn woolly woolly garb,And I quaff..
© Ogden Nash
Good-By Now Or Pardon My Gauntlet
Bring down the moon for genteel Janet;She's too refined for this gross planet.She wears garments and you wear clothes,You buy stockings, she..
© Ogden Nash
The Turtle
The turtle lives 'twixt plated decksWhich practically conceal its sex.I think it clever of the turtleIn such a fix to be so fertile.
© Ogden Nash
The Hippopotamus
Behold the hippopotamus!We laugh at how he looks to us,And yet in moments dank and grim,I wonder how we look to him.Peace, peace, thou..
© Ogden Nash
I Do, I Will, I Have
How wise I am to have instructed the butlerto instruct the first footman to instruct the secondfootman to instruct the doorman to order my carriage;I..
© Ogden Nash
The People Upstairs
The people upstairs all practise balletTheir living room is a bowling alleyTheir bedroom is full of conducted tours.Their radio is louder than..
© Ogden Nash
My Dream
This is my dream,It is my own dream,I dreamt it.I dreamt that my hair was kempt.Then I dreamt that my true love unkempt it.
© Ogden Nash
à Bas Ben Adhem
My fellow man I do not care for.I often ask me, What's he there for?The only answer I can findIs, Reproduction of his kind.If I'm supposed to swallow..
© Ogden Nash
Listen...
There is a knocking in the skull,An endless silent shoutOf something beating on a wall,And crying, “Let me out!”That solitary prisonerWill never hear..
© Ogden Nash
Look What You Did, Christopher!
In fourteen hundred and ninety-two,Someone sailed the ocean blue.Somebody borrowed the fare in SpainFor a business trip on the bounding main,And to..
© Ogden Nash
More About People
When people aren't asking questionsThey're making suggestionsAnd when they're not doing one of thoseThey're either looking over your shoulder or..
© Ogden Nash
Family Court
One would be in less dangerFrom the wiles of a strangerIf one's own kin and kithWere more fun to be with.
© Ogden Nash
The Dog
The truth I do not stretch or shoveWhen I state that the dog is full of love.I've also found, by actual test,A wet dog is the lovingest.
© Ogden Nash