Norton Book of Light Verse [Hardcover]

Russell Baker (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1991

Bestselling author Russell Baker presents a wonderful collection of poems, limericks, ballads, and lyrics.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Rather than appoint a poet or critic to edit its light verse anthology, Norton did the unexpected by choosing humorist Russell Baker. The Norton Book of Light Verse differs from similar endeavors in two other significant ways. Baker includes a large number of Americans (from light verse notables like John Updike, Ogden Nash, and Dorothy Parker to "serious" contemporary poets like Galway Kinnell and Jon Anderson). Further, Baker has arranged his selections into thematic sections ("Life's Losers"; "Bile"; "Beastly Things"; "Departures"; etc.). In his instructive introduction, he points out some of the macabre sources of much light verse, including infanticide and suicide; but this anthology is proof that all aspects of human endeavor are fertile ground of laughter. Highly recommended for all poetry collections. Robert Hudzik, P.L. of Cincinnati & Hamilton Cty.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

The Reconciliation: A Modern Version Odes Of Horace Iii, 9 by Franklin Pierce Adams
The Rich Man by Franklin Pierce Adams
To A Thesaurus by Franklin Pierce Adams
R-e-m-o-r-s-e by George Ade
Limberick by Conrad Aiken
Ye Bruthers Dogg by Jon Anderson
Pickin Em Up And Layin Em Down by Maya Angelou
Money by Richard Armour
The Aesthetic Point Of View by Wystan Hugh Auden
Doggerel By A Senior Citizen by Wystan Hugh Auden
The Unknown Citizen by Wystan Hugh Auden
The Baby Hilary, Sir Edmund by Kathleen Leland Baker
Honey Moon by Kathleen Leland Baker
Brave Rover by Henry Maximilian Beerbohm
Thomas Hardy And A.e. Housman by Henry Maximilian Beerbohm
Epitaph On The Poilitician by Hilaire Belloc
Fatigue; Epigram by Hilaire Belloc
Franklin Hyde Who Caroused In The Dirt by Hilaire Belloc
Henry King by Hilaire Belloc
The Lion by Hilaire Belloc
Lord Finchley by Hilaire Belloc
Lord Lucky by Hilaire Belloc
On His Books by Hilaire Belloc
On Jam by Hilaire Belloc
The Yak by Hilaire Belloc
Hernando De Soto by Rosemary Carr Benet
For City Spring by Stephen Vincent Benet
The Probatioun Officeres Tale by Gerard Benson
Sir Christopher Wren by Edmund Clerihew Bentley
The Dignity Of Labor by Robert Bersohn
In Westminster Abbey by John Betjeman
Mrs. Trollope In America by Helen Smith Bevington
Don't Steal. Thou'lt Never Thus Compete by Ambrose Bierce
The Anatomy Of Humor by Morris Gilbert Bishop
Diogenes by Morris Gilbert Bishop
Fragment From The Maladjusted: A Tragedy by Morris Gilbert Bishop
Limerick Is Furtive And Mean by Morris Gilbert Bishop
The Naughty Preposition by Morris Gilbert Bishop
Ozymandias Revisited by Morris Gilbert Bishop
Public Aid For Niagara Falls by Morris Gilbert Bishop
Sales Talk For Annie by Morris Gilbert Bishop
The Fly, Fr. Songs Of Experience by William Blake
Laughing Song, Fr. Songs Of Innocence by William Blake
The Little Vagabond, Fr. Songs Of Experience by William Blake
Pippa Passes, But I Can't Get Around This Truck by Margaret Blaker
Song Against Broccoli by Roy, Jr. Blount
Just & Unjust by Charles Synge Christopher Bowen
The Orator's Epitaph by Henry Peter Brougham
Pippa's Song [or, Morning] by Robert Browning
Behold The Deeds by Henry Cuyler Bunner
Confession by Frank Gelett Burgess
The Purple Cow by Frank Gelett Burgess
I Once Was A Maid by Robert Burns
Jolly Beggars by Robert Burns
Boston by Samuel C. Bushnell
The Law by Samuel (1612-1680) Butler
The Lisbon Packet by George Gordon Byron
On A Carrier Who Died Of Drunkenness by George Gordon Byron
Stanzas by George Gordon Byron
Written After Swimming From Sestos To Abydos by George Gordon Byron
An Adage by Henry James Byron
Ballad by Charles Stuart Calverley
Disaster by Charles Stuart Calverley
Robinson Crusoe ['s Story, Or Island] by Charles Edward Carryl
The Walloping Window-blind by Charles Edward Carryl
A Ballad In The Manner Of R-dy-rd K-pl-ng by Guy Wetmore Carryl
The Sycophantic Fox And The Gullible Raven by Guy Wetmore Carryl
First Time I Met Your Pa He Took My Slip by Fred Chappell
Guess Who by Fred Chappell
After Walt Whitman by Gilbert Keith Chesterton
A Ballade Of Suicide by Gilbert Keith Chesterton
Back Through The Looking Glass To This Side by John Ciardi
Censorship by John Ciardi
Suburban by John Ciardi
Emmeline Grangerford's 'ode To Stephen Dolwing Bots, Dec'd' by Samuel Langhorne Clemens
Spectator Ab Extra by Arthur Hugh Clough
Oh, Noa, Noa by William Cole
Fie On Eastern Luxury by David Hartley Coleridge
Cologne; Epigram by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
On My Joyful Departure From The City Of Cologne by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Song by William Congreve
Clothes Make The Man by Jack Conway
Any Part Of Piggy by Noel Coward
A Bar On The Piccola Marina by Noel Coward
He Never Did That To Me by Noel Coward
I've Been To A Marvelous Party by Noel Coward
Irish Song (rosie O'grady) by Noel Coward
The Little Ones' Abc, Sels. by Noel Coward
Mad Dogs And Englishmen by Noel Coward
What's Going To Happen To The Tots by Noel Coward
War Is Kind: 9 by Stephen Crane
New Jersey Turnpike by Richard Cumbie
1x1 (one Times One): 10 by Edward Estlin Cummings
No Thanks: 16 by Edward Estlin Cummings
One: 10 by Edward Estlin Cummings
Two: 3 by Edward Estlin Cummings
Xx by Edward Estlin Cummings
The Rattle Bag by Dafydd Ap Gwilym
Mia Carlotta by Thomas Augustine Daly
In The Seventies: 4. Motley by Peter Davison
Two Songs: 2 by Cecil Day Lewis
Might And Right by Clarence Day
Our Friend The Egg by Clarence Day
Wife And Home by Clarence Day
Bacchanal by Peter De Vries
Christmas Family Reunion by Peter De Vries
Sacred And Profane Love, Or, There's Nothing New by Peter De Vries
To His Importunate Mistress by Peter De Vries
I'm Nobody! Who Are You by Emily Dickinson
To Make A Prairie by Emily Dickinson
La, La, La by Thomas M. Disch
Persicos Odi: Pocket Version by Henry Austin Dobson
The Crocodile, Fr. Alice In Wonderland by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson
Father William [questioned], Fr. Alice In Wonderland by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson
Jabberwocky by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson
Lullaby by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson
The Mad Gardener's Song by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson
Turtle Soup by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson
The Apparition by John Donne
The Flea by John Donne
Goe, And Catche A Falling Starre by John Donne
Woman's Constancy by John Donne
Lines For Cuscuscaraway And Mirza Murad Ali Beg by Thomas Stearns Eliot
Lines To Ralph Hodgson, Esqre. by Thomas Stearns Eliot
Macavity: The Mystery Cat by Thomas Stearns Eliot
The Naming Of Cats by Thomas Stearns Eliot
On Communists; Epigram by Ebenezer Elliott
Fable: The Mountain And The Squirrel by Ralph Waldo Emerson
On Scott's 'the Field Of Waterloo' by Thomas Erskine
The Benefits And Abuse Of Alcohol by Eubulus
Epitaph - 1726 On Sir John Vanbrugh by Abel Evans
Ending by Gavin Ewart
Fable by James Facos
Woolly Words by Robert N. Feinstein
Mr. Billings Of Louisville by Eugene Field
A Piazza Tragedy by Eugene Field
The Sugar-plum Tree by Eugene Field
Wynken, Blynken And Nod by Eugene Field
The Alarmed Skipper by James Thomas Fields
Obit On Parnassus by F. Scott Fitzgerald
A Melancholy Lay by Marjorie Fleming
Sonnet To A Monkey by Marjorie Fleming
After Grave Deliberation by Elizabeth Flynn
The Good Old Days by Barbara Fried
The Objection To Being Stepped On by Robert Frost
De Sade by John Fuller
On Sir John Hill, M.d., Playwright by David Garrick
What Frenzy Has Of Late Possess'd The Brain by Samuel Garth
Advice To Travelers by Walker Gibson
The Family Fool by William Schwenck Gilbert
The Modern Major-general, Fr. The Pirates Of Penzance by William Schwenck Gilbert
Song by William Schwenck Gilbert
To The Terrestrial Globe (by A Miserable Wretch) by William Schwenck Gilbert
Lines On The Antiquity Of Microbes by Strickland Gillilan
I Am A Victim Of Telephone by Allen Ginsberg
Sweet Levinsky by Allen Ginsberg
On The Motor Bus by Alfred Dennis Godley
Elegy On The Death Of A Mad Dog by Oliver Goldsmith
Of Money by Barnaby (barnabe) Googe
Indifference by Harry Graham
L'enfant Glace by Harry Graham
Tender-heartedness by Harry Graham
Disillusionment by Virginia Graham
To Cloe by George Granville
Welcome, To The Caves Of Arta by Robert Ranke Graves
Ode On The Death Of A Favourite Cat, Drowned In A Tub by Thomas Gray
(all The World's A Stage ...) by Victor Gray
Anthologistics by Arthur Guiterman
Everything In Its Place by Arthur Guiterman
Local Note by Arthur Guiterman
On The Vanity Of Earthly Greatness by Arthur Guiterman
The Dark-eyed Gentleman by Thomas Hardy
The Ruined Maid by Thomas Hardy
Helen by James Harrison
The Ballad Of The Emeu by Francis Bret Harte
The Dover Bitch; A Criticism Of Life by Anthony Hecht
Paradise Lost, Book 5. An Epitome by Anthony Hecht
Samuel Sewall by Anthony Hecht
Good And Bad Luck by Heinrich Heine
This Smoking World by Graham Lee Hemminger
I Like Them Fluffy by Alan Patrick Herbert
Saturday Night by Alan Patrick Herbert
Triangular Legs by Alan Patrick Herbert
To The Sour Reader by Robert Herrick
To The Virgins, To Make Much Of Time by Robert Herrick
Upon Julia's Clothes by Robert Herrick
The Farmer And The Farmer's Wife by Paul Gerhardt Hiebert
As The Crow Flies, Let Him Fly, Sels. by Samuel Hoffenstein
Babies Haven't Any Hair by Samuel Hoffenstein
Birdie Mcreynolds by Samuel Hoffenstein
Invocation by Samuel Hoffenstein
The Mimic Muse, Sels. by Samuel Hoffenstein
Miss Millay Says Something Too by Samuel Hoffenstein
Song 13 by Samuel Hoffenstein
Song 8 by Samuel Hoffenstein
Songs About Life And Brighter Things Yet, Sels. by Samuel Hoffenstein
A Straight Line by Samuel Hoffenstein
The Story Of Augustus Who Would Not Have Any Soup by Heinrich Hoffmann
Danish Wit by John Hollander
Heliogabalus by John Hollander
The Russian Soul Ii by John Hollander
Careless Talk by Mark Hollis
'twixt Cup And Lip by Mark Hollis
Cacoethes Scribendi by Oliver Wendell Holmes
Dust To Dust; Epigram by Thomas Hood
A Serenade by Thomas Hood
To Minerva by Thomas Hood
As Into The Garden Elizabeth Ran by Alfred Edward Housman
G.k. Chesterton On His Birth by Alfred Edward Housman
Hallelujah by Alfred Edward Housman
Inhuman Henry Or Cruelty To Fabulous Animals by Alfred Edward Housman
The Shades Of Night by Alfred Edward Housman
Advice by James Langston Hughes
Life Is Fine by James Langston Hughes
Little Lyric (of Great Importance) by James Langston Hughes
Morning After by James Langston Hughes
What? by James Langston Hughes
A Fish Replies by James Henry Leigh Hunt
Jenny Kissed Me by James Henry Leigh Hunt
To A Fish by James Henry Leigh Hunt
In Christ Church, Bristol, On Thomas Turner by Francis Jeffrey
On Peter Robinson by Francis Jeffrey
Election Reflection by M. Keel Jones
On English Monsieur by Ben Jonson
Volpone: To Celia by Ben Jonson
Lines On The Mermaid Tavern by John Keats
Sharing Eve's Apple by John Keats
Brats by X. J. Kennedy
I Called One Day - On Eden's Strand by X. J. Kennedy
In A Prominent Bar In Secaucus One Day by X. J. Kennedy
If I Should Die Tonight by Benjamin Franklin King
The Pessimist by Benjamin Franklin King
Crime At Its Best by Stoddard King
Idyll by Stoddard King
Trombone Solo by Stoddard King
What, Still Alive At Twenty-two by Hugh Kingsmill
In A Parlor Containing A Table by Galway Kinnell
A Dead Statesman; Epitaph Of The War, 1914-18 by Rudyard Kipling
For The Poet Who Said Poets Are Struck By Lightning by Peter Klappert
Idealism by Ronald Arbuthnott Knox
Variations On A Theme By William Carlos Williams by Kenneth Koch
Eggomania by Felicia Lamport
Mother, Mother, Are You All There by Felicia Lamport
Poll Star by Felicia Lamport
Dirce by Walter Savage Landor
Plays by Walter Savage Landor
A Threnody by George Thomas Lanigan
Annus Mirabilis by Philip Larkin
Intimates by David Herbert Lawrence
In Answer To Your Query by Naomi Lazard
By Way Of Preface by Edward Lear
The Owl And The Pussy Cat by Edward Lear
Alma by Tom Lehrer
The Fat Budgie by John Winston Lennon
Simon Legree: Negro Sermon; Memorial To Booker T. Washington by Nicholas Vachel Lindsay
Misericordia %college Of Cardinals by James Lipton
Our Photograph by Frederick Locker-lampson
Ough by Charles Battell Loomis
A Serving Men's Song by John Lyly
Bagpipe Music by Frederick Louis Macneice
Fife Tune by John Streeter Manifold
Doctor Fell by Marcus Valerius Martialis
Of Treason by Marcus Valerius Martialis
The Passionate Shepherd To His Love by Christopher Marlowe
1. The Song Of Mehitabel by Donald Robert Perry Marquis
Archy At The Zoo by Donald Robert Perry Marquis
Certain Maxims Of Archy (2) by Donald Robert Perry Marquis
Mehitabel And Her Kittens by Donald Robert Perry Marquis
When One Loves Tensely by Donald Robert Perry Marquis
Ascot Waistcoat by David Mccord
Baccalaureate by David Mccord
Epitaph On A Waiter by David Mccord
Ballade Of Lost Objects by Phyllis Mcginley
A Garland Of Precepts by Phyllis Mcginley
Notes For A Southern Road Map by Phyllis Mcginley
Ode To The End Of Summer by Phyllis Mcginley
Public Journal by Phyllis Mcginley
Reflections At Dawn by Phyllis Mcginley
The Hen It Is A Noble Beast by William Mcgonagall
Oboe by Laurence Mckinney
Antigonish by Hughes Mearns
A Thousand Hairy Savages by Spike Milligan
Giving Potatoes by Adrian Mitchell
Limerick by Cosmo Monkhouse
To Cloe by Thomas Moore
Dial Call by Christopher Darlington Morley
The Gospel Of Mr. Pepys by Christopher Darlington Morley
Pennsylvania Deutsch by Christopher Darlington Morley
Public Beach (long Island Sound) by Christopher Darlington Morley
Horn by Mother Goose
Monday's Child by Mother Goose
They That Wash On Monday by Mother Goose
The Cow by Ogden Nash
The Grackle by Ogden Nash
Ha! Original Sin by Ogden Nash
I Pray The Lord My Soul To Take by Ogden Nash
Introspective Reflection by Ogden Nash
A Man Can't Complain, Can't He ( A Lament For Those ... ) by Ogden Nash
Mr. Artesian's Conscientiousness by Ogden Nash
The Purist by Ogden Nash
Reflection On Babies by Ogden Nash
Reflections On Ice-breaking by Ogden Nash
Requiem by Ogden Nash
The Termite by Ogden Nash
Authorship by James Ball Naylor
Boom! by Howard Nemerov
Life Cycle Of Common Man by Howard Nemerov
Manners by Howard Nemerov
Mystery Story by Howard Nemerov
Reflexions On The Seizure Of Suez by Howard Nemerov
Owed To New York - 1906 by Byron Rufus Newton
Bohemia by Dorothy Parker
Comment by Dorothy Parker
The Flaw In Paganism by Dorothy Parker
Inventory by Dorothy Parker
The Little Old Lady In Lavender Silk by Dorothy Parker
News Item by Dorothy Parker
One Perfect Rose by Dorothy Parker
Pictures In The Smoke by Dorothy Parker
Resume by Dorothy Parker
Sanctuary by Dorothy Parker
Miniver Cheevy, Jr. by David Fisher Parry
Cynical Portraits by Louis Paul
Chorus by Thomas Love Peacock
The Old Wives' [or Wife's] Tale: A Summer Song by George Peele
Attack Of The Squash People by Marge Piercy
Crabs by Marge Piercy
The Development by Marge Piercy
Hello Up There by Marge Piercy
What's That Smell In The Kitchen by Marge Piercy
Epitaphium Citharistriae by Victor Gustave Plarr
The Fool And The Poet by Alexander Pope
To A Blockhead by Alexander Pope
A Word Of Encouragement by J. R. Pope
The Perfect Child by Adrian Porter
Always True To You In My Fashion by Cole Porter
Brush Up Your Shakespeare by Cole Porter
You're The Top! %you're The Colosseum by Cole Porter
Ancient Music by Ezra Pound
Chicago Analogue by Keith Preston
The Complete Cynic by Keith Preston
Lapsus Linguae by Keith Preston
The Parental Critic by Keith Preston
Probably by Keith Preston
Cause And Effect by Matthew Prior
Earning A Dinner by Matthew Prior
Fatal Love by Matthew Prior
Sage Counsel by Arthur Quiller-couch
A Counterblast Against Garlic by Quintus Horatius Flaccus
Persian Fopperies by Quintus Horatius Flaccus
The Nymph's Reply To The Shepherd by Walter Raleigh
Wishes Of An Eldery Man, Wished At A Garden Party, June 1914 by Walter Alexander Raleigh
The Rebel by Innes Randolph
Survey Of Literature by John Crowe Ransom
Chard Whitlow (mr. Eliot's Sunday Evening Postcript) by Henry Reed
Eletelephony by Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards
Little Orphant Annie by James Whitcomb Riley
Miniver Cheevy by Edwin Arlington Robinson
For An Amorous Lady by Theodore Roethke
The Lady And The Bear by Theodore Roethke
Mips And Ma The Mooly Moo by Theodore Roethke
The Mistake by Theodore Roethke
My Papa's Waltz by Theodore Roethke
Pipling by Theodore Roethke
The Saginaw Song by Theodore Roethke
Song For The Squeeze Box by Theodore Roethke
John, Tom, And James by Charles Henry Ross
Preface Shrinklit: Elements Of Style by Maurice Sagoff
Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe by Maurice Sagoff
Apex by Nate Salbury
Eine Kleine Snailmusic by Eleanor May Sarton
The Snow Light by Eleanor May Sarton
The News by John Godfrey Saxe
April, Fr. Love's Labour's Lost by William Shakespeare
Ariel's Song (2), Fr. The Tempest by William Shakespeare
Feste's Song (2), Fr. Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
The Pedlar's Song (2) [or, Song Of Autolycus] by William Shakespeare
A Sea Song by William Shakespeare
Hamlet by Stanley J. Sharpless
In Praise Of Cocoa, Cupid's Nightcap by Stanley J. Sharpless
Low Church by Stanley J. Sharpless
On A Painted Woman by Percy Bysshe Shelley
The Old Hokum Buncombe by Robert Emmet Sherwood
The Slithergadee by Shelby Silverstein
To Mistress Margaret Hussey by John Skelton
Correspondence Between Mr. Harrison In Newcastle by Florence Margaret Smith
The Jungle Husband by Florence Margaret Smith
Lord Barrenstock by Florence Margaret Smith
Our Bog Is Dood by Florence Margaret Smith
My Angeline by Harry Bache Smith
He Told His Life Story To Mrs. Courtly by Steve Smith
Major Macroo by Steve Smith
A Receipt For A Salad by Sydney Smith
Salad by Sydney Smith
High Renaissance by George Starbuck
Here Lies Sir Tact by Timothy Reid Steele
To R.k. by James Kenneth Stephen
A Glass Of Beer by James Stephens
Bed In Summer by Robert Louis Stevenson
Good And Bad Children by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Land Of Counterpane by Robert Louis Stevenson
Looking Forward by Robert Louis Stevenson
Underwoods: Book 1: 21. Requiem by Robert Louis Stevenson
Whole Duty Of Children by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Brewer's Man by Leonard Alfred George Strong
The Constant Lover by John Suckling
Song [or, Orsames' Song] by John Suckling
The Cudgeled Husband; Epigram by Jonathan Swift
Dick, A Maggot by Jonathan Swift
A Gentle Echo On Woman (in The Doric Manner) by Jonathan Swift
Twelve Articles by Jonathan Swift
The Passionate Professor by Bert Leston Taylor
Upon Julia's Arctics by Bert Leston Taylor
The Saddled Ass by Deems Taylor
Learning To Face Extinction: The View From A Cab by Henry Splawn Taylor
Riding Lesson by Henry Splawn Taylor
Speech by Henry Splawn Taylor
The Sorrows Of Werther by William Makepeace Thackeray
A Victorian Paraphrase by William Makepeace Thackeray
Trials Of A Tourist by Anne Tibble
The Cynic, Sels. by St. George Tucker
Of Drunkenness by George Turberville
The Advertising Agency Song by Anonymous
The American Indian by Anonymous
An Arab And His Donkey by Anonymous
Art by Anonymous
Be Careful by Anonymous
Brian O'linn by Anonymous
Burma-shave Roadside Signs (11) by Anonymous
Carmen Possum by Anonymous
Cautionary Limerick by Anonymous
The Common Cormorant by Anonymous
Cuckoo Song by Anonymous
Darwinism In The Kitchen by Anonymous
Determinism by Anonymous
The Devil In Texas by Anonymous
Drive A Tractor by Anonymous
Epigram On Sir Roger Phillimore by Anonymous
Finnegan's Wake by Anonymous
The Frog by Anonymous
From A London Bookshop by Anonymous
Graffiti by Anonymous
Hours Of Sleep by Anonymous
I Had But Fifty Cents by Anonymous
John Bun by Anonymous
Judged By The Company One Keeps by Anonymous
Justice To Scotland by Anonymous
A Maxim Revisited by Anonymous
Miss Foggerty's Cake by Anonymous
The Night Was Growing Old by Anonymous
On A Clergyman's Horse Biting Him by Anonymous
On Buying A Horse by Anonymous
On Tomato Ketchup by Anonymous
Poem To Answer The Question: How Old Are Fleas? by Anonymous
Poor But Honest by Anonymous
Proverbial Advice On Marriage by Anonymous
A Reply by Anonymous
Sneeze On A Monday, You Sneeze For Danger by Anonymous
Solomon Grundy by Anonymous
Sound Advice by Anonymous
There Was A King by Anonymous
To A Living Author by Anonymous
Traveler's Curse After Misdirection by Anonymous
Waiter, Please by Anonymous
What Hoawatha Probably Did by Anonymous
Where Are You Going, My Pretty Maid by Anonymous
You're The Top by Anonymous
Repentance by Louis Untermeyer
Insomnia The Gem Of The Ocean by John Updike
Some Frenchmen by John Updike
Jonsonian Poem In Progress, Sels. by Peter Veale
Mother Doesn't Want A Dog by Judith Stahl Viorst
The Despairing Lover by William (1663-1707) Walsh
How To Tell The Wild Animals by Carolyn Wells
The Universal Favorite by Carolyn Wells
On Butler's Monument [in Westminster] by Samuel Wesley
Myrtle For Two by George F. Whicher
Commuter by Elwyn Brooks White
I Paint What I See (a Ballad Of Artistic Integrity) by Elwyn Brooks White
The Red Cow Is Dead by Elwyn Brooks White
To A Lady Across The Way by Elwyn Brooks White
Window Ledge In The Atom Age by Elwyn Brooks White
Impromptu by Samuel Wilberforce
Pangloss's Song: A Comic-opera Lyric by Richard Wilbur
The Prisoner Of Zenda by Richard Wilbur
The Star System by Richard Wilbur
A Summer Morning by Richard Wilbur
To An American Poet Just Dead by Richard Wilbur
Two Voices In A Meadow by Richard Wilbur
What's Good For The Soul Is Good For Sales by Richard Wilbur
Virtual Particles by Frank Wilczek
Uncle Iv Surveys His Domain From His Rocker by Jonathan Williams
Carrousel Tune by Tennessee Williams
Impromptu On Charles Ii (2) by John Wilmot
Song (1) by John Wilmot
Upon His Leaving His Mistress by John Wilmot
On A Stone Thrown At A Very Great Man by John Wolcott
The Elk. The Whelk by Robert Williams Wood
The Pecan. The Toucan by Robert Williams Wood
The Pen-guin. The Sword-fish by Robert Williams Wood
A New World Symphony by Kit Wright
The Fiddler Of Dooney by William Butler Yeats
Last Lauch by Douglas Young
The Lips That Touch Liquor Must Never Touch Mine by George W. Young
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

Product Details

• Hardcover: 456 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1st edition (April 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393023664
• ISBN-13: 978-0393023664
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,163,571 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars every poem is a gem, February 2, 2000

By 

Zachary S. Gresham (Kingston Springs, TN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Norton Book of Light Verse (Hardcover)

I have never read a collection of poems so consistantly funny in my life. The pieces included are all very clever and very quote-worthy. I could read the whole thing in a sitting.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great way to spend a day, September 15, 2005

By 

Sarah McNell (Provo, UT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Norton Book of Light Verse (Hardcover)

I'm someone who's always happy to find a good book to curl up with. This collection of light verse is a brilliant use of time, and it's just as much fun read a single poem at a time as it is in large quantities. The verses and poems are grouped logically, and brilliantly, each giggle contributing to the next. The commentary is as much between the poem and their placement as it is at the beginning of the book. I appreciate Russell Baker's style and voice throughout, and appreciate as well even the deeper and more provocatively ironic pieces he slipped between the more simplistic poems.