When I consider men of golden talents,
I'm delighted, in my introverted way,
To discover, as I'm drawing up the balance,
How much we have in common, I and they.
Like Burns, I have a weakness for the bottle,
Like Shakespeare, little Latin and less Greek;
I bite my fingernails like Aristotle;
Like Thackeray, I have a snobbish streak.
I'm afflicted with the vanity of Byron,
I've inherited the spitefulness of Pope;
Like Petrarch, I'm a sucker for a siren,
Like Milton, I've a tendency to mope.
My spelling is suggestive of a Chaucer;
Like Johnson, well, I do not wish to die
(I also drink my coffee from the saucer);
And if Goldsmith was a parrot, so am I.
Like Villon, I have debits by the carload,
Like Swinburne, I'm afraid I need a nurse;
By my dicing is Christopher out-Marlowed,
And I dream as much as Coleridge, only worse.
In comparison with men of golden talents,
I am all a (wo)man of talent ought to be;
I resemble every genius in his vice, however heinous--
Yet I write so much like me.
~Ogden Nash
I love this poem.
I can feel the corners of my mouth curling up in a smile as I read it!
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6 comments:
good one!
Cool poem.......I had to read it twice to fully grasp it.
(Slow learner here) ;)
Excellent!
STB
Ogden Nash bestowed a wonderful, whimsical gift on the world and I often open the little compendium I have of his offerings to brighten my mood, too.
"The turtle lives twixt plated decks,
which practically conceal his sex.
I think it clever of the turtle,
in such a fix to be so fertile."
Thank you for the poem. Between Nash and Dorothy Parker the world was made a better place.
I love it. Ogden Nash is so much fun. :)
Hey Tai.
I enjoyed that one too!
Your Pal,
Zambo.
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