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").
Morning Prayer
Now another day is breaking,Sleep was sweet and so is waking.Dear Lord, I promised you last nightNever again to sulk or fight.Such vows are easier to..
© Ogden Nash
A Flea And A Fly In A Flue
A flea and a fly in a flueWere imprisoned, so what could they do?Said the fly, "let us flee!""Let us fly!" said the flea.So they flew through a flaw..
© Ogden Nash
I'Ll Get One Tomorrow
Barber, barber, come and get me;Hairy torrents irk and fret me.Hair and hair again appears;And climbs like ivy round my ears.Hair across my collar..
© Ogden Nash
Samson Agonistes
I test my bath before I sit,And I'm always moved to wondermentThat what chills the finger not a bitIs so frigid upon the fundament.
© Ogden Nash
The Joyous Malingerer
Who is the happy husband? Why, indeed,'Tis he who's useless in the time of need;Who, asked to unclasp a bracelet or a neckless,Contrives to be..
© Ogden Nash
Kipling's Vermont
The summer like a rajah dies,And every widowed treeKindles for Congregationalist eyesAn alien suttee.
© Ogden Nash
Spring Comes To Murray Hill
I sit in an office at 244 Madison AvenueAnd say to myself You have a responsible job havenue?Why then do you fritter away your time on this..
© Ogden Nash
The Squab
Toward a better world I contribute my modest smidgin;I eat the squab, lest it become a pigeon.
© Ogden Nash
The Solitary Huntsman
The solitary huntsmanNo coat of pink doth wear,But midnight black from cap to spurUpon his midnight mare.He drones a tuneless jingleIn lieu of..
© Ogden Nash
The Lion
Oh, weep for Mr. and Mrs. Bryan!He was eaten by a lion;Following which, the lion's lionessUp and swallowed Bryan's Bryaness.
© Ogden Nash
Reflection On The Fallibility Of Nemesis
He who is ridden by a conscienceWorries about a lot of nonscience;He without benefit of scruplesHis fun and income soon quadruples.
© Ogden Nash
One Third Of The Calendar
In January everything freezes.We have two children. Both are she'ses.This is our January rule:One girl in bed, and one in school.In February the..
© Ogden Nash
Possessions Are Nine Points Of Conversation
Some people, and it doesn't matter whether they are paupers or millionaires, Think that anything they have is the best in the world just because it..
© Ogden Nash
Requiem
There was a young belle of NatchezWhose garments were always in patchez.When comment aroseOn the state of her clothes,She drawled, When Ah itchez, Ah..
© Ogden Nash
Peekabo, I Almost See You
Middle-aged life is merry, and I love tolead it,But there comes a day when your eyesare all right but your arm isn't longenoughto hold the telephone..
© Ogden Nash
The Bargain
As I was going to St. IvesI met a man with seven lives;Seven lives,In seven sacks,Like seven beevesOn seven racks.These seven livesHe offered to..
© Ogden Nash
Tableau At Twilight
I sit in the dusk. I am all alone.Enter a child and an ice-cream cone.A parent is easily beguiledBy sight of this coniferous child.The friendly..
© Ogden Nash
If He Were Alive Today, Mayhap, Mr. Morgan Would Sit On The Midget's Lap
Beep-beep.BANKERS TRUST AUTOMOBILE LOANYou'll find a banker at Bankers Trust'</i>Advertisement in N.Y. TimesWhen comes my second childhood,As..
© Ogden Nash
The Clean Plater
Some singers sing of ladies' eyes,And some of ladies lips,Refined ones praise their ladylike ways,And course ones hymn their hips.The Oxford Book of..
© Ogden Nash
The Cantaloupe
One cantaloupe is ripe and lush,Another's green, another's mush.I'd buy a lot more cantaloupeIf I possessed a fluoroscope.
© Ogden Nash
Reflection On Caution
Affection is a noble quality;It leads to generosity and jollity.But it also leads to breach of promiseIf you go around lavishing it on red-hot momise.
© Ogden Nash
Pretty Halcyon Days
How pleasant to sit on the beach,On the beach, on the sand, in the sun,With ocean galore within reach,And nothing at all to be done! No letters..
© Ogden Nash