Potpourri of the Mind : A Collection of Poems in the Limerick Style [Hardcover]

Joel D. Ash (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1997

A unique book of genuine poetry utilizing the limerick rhyming scheme of a-a-b-b-a. The book contains 80 poetic limericks - - 61 poems are 6 stanzas in length, 7 poems are slightly shorter with 5 stanzas, 11 poems are slightly longer with 8 to 12 stanzas, and 1 poem is 24 stanzas long.

The subject matter covers a very wide range fitting into the following 7 sections of the book - - Of Love and Nature - - Poems from the Darker Side - - Fun & Games and Everyday Life - - Food for Thought - - In the Time Machine - - and Anything Goes. The poems in the Of Love and Nature section could be characterized as beautiful, touching, and/or descriptive of nature. The Poems from the Darker Side tend to be humorous in a dark fashion, haunting, and/or somewhat frightening. The poems in the Fun & Games and Everyday Life section are funny, interesting, and/or insightful. The poems in the Food for Thought section all pertain to food or eating, and could be described in a similar fashion to those in the previous section. In the Time Machine deals with time travel via the mind and may be described as provocative, fascinating, and unusual. The Oddities and Magic section contains a strange mix of humorous and unusual poems, some drawn from the author's many years as an amateur magician.

The last section, Anything Goes, has something for everyone - - varying from poems with a touch of humor to poems which may inspire. On the jacket flap the author states that he is "confident that POTPOURRI OF THE MIND will provide readers with a dozen or more poems that they will want to recite to a friend or loved one."

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

This book is a limited edition with only 500 copies in the first printing. POTPOURRI OF THE MIND is a beautifully bound hardcover book. The jacket and internal graphics have been created by a professional designer who has won a national graphic design award for each of the past four years. Everything is first class, including heavy paper stock and gold leaf printing on the spine. A second book, which will also be a limited edition, is now nearing completion. This book will contain roughly eighty new poems and the graphic design of the second book will be such that the two books will look like part of a set. A third book for the set is planned.

About the Author

Joel D. Ash graduated from Dartmouth College in 1956 after majoring in art and psychology. He also holds a Master of Science degree from the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth. The author has travelled around the world extensively as an executive with International Telephone and Telegraph and as the president of his own consulting firm.

Mr. Ash is now retired and resides in Weston, Connecticut.

He was recently designated Poet Laureate for the Dartmouth class of 1956.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 109 pages
• Publisher: Old Pine Books (November 1, 1997)
• ISBN-10: 096640470X
• ISBN-13: 978-0966404708
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,136,522 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is a rare jewell., July 14, 1998

By 

Arthur J. Deex([e-mail]) (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Potpourri of the Mind : A Collection of Poems in the Limerick Style (Hardcover)

Potpourri of the Mind: A Collection of Poems in the LimerickStyle by Joel D. Ash. Weston, CT: Old Pine Books, 1997. 109 pp. 515limericks. Reviewed by Arthur Deex, Editor of The Pentatette (the monthly newsletter of the Limerick Special Interest Group).

This is truly a beautiful book -one that no lover of the pentatettial form can ignore, or for that matter, live without. While you and I were groveling with some prurient, unsavory rhymes, Joel Ash was moved by a more lofty vision.

The book consists of numerous multi-verse poems; Flower Time begins:

In a garden surrounded by pine,
Nature thriving in mottled sunshine;
Up the lattice of wire,
Vines grow ever higher,
The tendrils and flowers entwine.

and

In front black eyed susans are found,
New guinea impatients abound;
Wax begonias deep red,
A day lily bed,
The colors explode without sound. . .

Not all serious, one selection relates how the devil's wife romances him into ! ! getting an icebox so their son can have ice cream on his birthday.

A graduate of Dartmouth, Ash brings Dartmouth and New England themes into many of his limericks. Most are reflective - embracing what it means to be human.

Deep emotions evoked by a fire,
Fascination the flames can inspire;
Flicker and dance,
You stare in a trance,
All that beauty within to admire.

You will want to bring this book out again and again to share with your family and friends. And you will say, "I wish I had written this book."

I cannot say enough good things about Potpourri. Mr. Ash knows all about metre and rhyme he has chosen to use that knowledge for good.

[This review appeared in the June 1998 issue of The Pentatette.]

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars it was good., May 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Potpourri of the Mind : A Collection of Poems in the Limerick Style (Hardcover)

a stupid little book that i've never read..i just did this to experiment cuz i have this poetry book due monday and i need a limerick poem.