Humorous Poetry and Song Lyrics

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Humorous Poetryand Song Lyrics

• by Don and Alleen Nilsen

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Poetry for Garage Mechanics
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(No Transcript)
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Alleens Poetry Day at A.S.U.

• Poems are for sharing out loud.
• The difference between prose and poetry is
  rhetorical density schemes and tropes.
• Poems are emotional and sensual.

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EDMUND CLERIHEW BENTLEY

• Edmund Clerihew Bentley invented a satiric verse
  form called the clerihew.
• When their lordships asked Bacon
• How many bribes he had taken
• He had at least the grace
• To get very red in the face.

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GELETT BURGESS

• In 1901, Burgess wrote a playful parody of Emily
  Dickensons I Never Saw a Moor. Burgesss poem
  went as follows
• I never saw a Purple Cow,
• I never Hope to See one.
• But I can Tell you Anyhow,
• Id rather see than Be one!

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• Burgess was forced to recite this ditty so often
  that in desperation he wrote a new poem
• Oh Yes, I wrote The Purple Cow.
• Im Sorry now I Wrote it.
• But I can Tell you Anyhow,
• Ill Kill you if you Quote it.

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• George Carlin Im a Modern Man
• https//www.youtube.com/watch?vcZGzmKjsAoA

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LEWIS CARROLL

• Lewis Carroll wrote parodies and nonsense verse
• Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
• Did gyre and gimble in the wabe
• all mimsy were the borogroves,
• And the mome raths outgrabe.

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ALLEN GINSBERG

• When Allen Ginsberg ushered in the age of Beat
  poetry with Howl, people were amazed that a
  poem about depression and suffering could also be
  exuberant and exciting and filled with fresh and
  humorous images.
• Here is an example of these images, as he writes
  about
• angel-headed hipsters, from Zen New Jersey,
  eating the lamb stew of the imagination, and
  being run down by the drunken taxicabs of
  Absolute Reality.

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Jack and the Bean StalkThe Giants Poem

• Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum
• I smell the blood of an Englishman.
• Be he alive or be he dead
• Ill grind his bones to make my bread.

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EDWARD LEAR

• Edward Lear wrote learics. The name of the
  genre was later changed to limericks.
• There is a young lady whose nose,
• Continually prospers and grows
• When it grew out of sight,
• She exclaimed in a fright
• Oh! Farewell to the end of my nose!

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JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL

• Lowell was a Harvard professor who was opposed to
  the Mexican War. He invented a character by the
  name of Birdofredum Sawin as a satiric
  spokesperson for his anti-war sentiments.
• Birdofredum had lost an arm, a leg, and an eye in
  the war, so he planned to go into politics as a
  way of cashing in on his disfigurements. His
  political speeches went like this

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• If, while youre lectioneerin round, some curious
  chap should beg
• To know my views o state affairs, just answer
  WOODEN LEG!
• If they aint satisfied with that, and kinda pry
  and doubt,
• And ax for somethin definite, just say ONE EYE
  PUT OUT!
• In talking about his platform Birdofredum
  continues

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• Then you can call me Timbertoesthats what the
  people likes!....
• Old Timbertoes, you see, s a creed its safe
  to be quite bold on,
• Theres nothin int the other side can any ways
  get hold on.

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Edna Saint Vincent MillayA Very Poetic Name
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JULIA MOORE

• Julia Moore, the Sweet Singer of Michigan wrote
  funeral poems
• One morning in April, a short time ago.
• Libbie was alive and gay
• Her Savior called her, she had to go,
• Ere the close of that pleasant day.
• While eating dinner, this dear little child
• Was choked on a piece of beef.
• Doctors came, tried their skill awhile,
• But none could give relief.

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• Mark Twain confessed to studying Julia Moores
  poetry to learn the art of writing funny poems.
  
• He is said to have used Moore as the model for
  Emmaline Grangerford, who wrote Ode to Stephen
  Dowling Bots, Decd, in The Adventures of
  Huckleberry Finn.

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MATTHEW PRIOR

• Matthew Prior was a 17th-century poet who wrote
  epigrams
• Sir, I admit your general rule,
• That every poet is a fool
• But you yourself may serve to show it,
• That every fool is not a poet.

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DR. SEUSS

• Theodore Seuss Geisel wrote under the names of
  Theo LeSieg, Rosetta Stone, and Dr. Seuss.
• When Dr. Seuss was awarded an honorary doctorate
  at a college graduation, the entire audience
  stood up and recited Green Eggs and Ham.

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• Alliteration Jack Webb and Johnny Carson
  Kleptomania
• https//www.youtube.com/watch?vcjquGpmgwOo

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COL. D. STEAMER

• Col. D. Steamer was the pen name of Harry Graham,
  an English soldier who produced a book of Little
  Willie or Little Billie poems.
• Billy, in one of his nice, new sashes,
• Fell in the fire and was burned to ashes.
• Now, although the room grows chilly,
• I havent the heart to poke poor Billy.

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The Importance of Metaphor
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• Chauncy Gardner, who lives in the townhouse of a
  wealthy man in Washington, D.C., has had
  virtually no contact with the outside world until
  the rich man dies.
• The only thing that Chauncy knows about is
  gardening, so when the Old Man dies, and
  Chauncy leaves the estate and enters the real
  world of Washington D.C. he talks about what he
  knowsgardening.
• But the real world doesnt realize that Chauncy
  is talking literally. Since he is dressed so
  well, and since he has excellent speech and
  manners, people assume that he is talking
  metaphorically.
• They all assume that his simple literal
  statements have profound metaphorical
  significance, and so Chauncy rises in the world
  of Washington D.C. to become an important
  political figure.
• In the tradition of Pygmalion, and of My Fair
  Lady, Chauncy uses his language to attain a high
  position in the D.C. aristocracy.

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ENGAGEMENT AND TRANSCENDENCE

• Good poetry usually contains much sensual
  imagery. Poetry is usually about the interaction
  between a human being and the human beings
  senses of smell, taste, touch, sound, and sight.
• But good poetry is also often transcendent.

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Synesthesia
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The Jasmine Lightness of the Moonby William
Carlos Williams

• To a Solitary Disciple
• Rather notice, mon cher,
• that the moon is tilted above
• the point of the steeple
• than that its color
• is shell-pink
• Rather observe
• that it is early morning
• than that the sky is smooth
• as a turquoise.

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• Rather grasp
• how the dark
• converging lines
• of the steeple
• meet at the pinnacle
• perceive how
• its little ornament
• tries to stop them--

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• See how it fails!
• See how the converging lines
• of the hexagonal spire
• escape upward
• receding, dividing!
• --sepals
• that guard and contain
• the flower!

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• Observe
• how motionless
• the eaten moon
• lies in the protecting lines
• It is true
• in the light colors
• of morning
• brown-stone and slate
• shine orange and dark blue.

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• But observe
• the oppressive weight
• of the squat edifice!
• Observe
• the jasmine lightness
• of the moon.

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POETIC LICENSE,SCHEMES AND TROPES

• The syntax of poetry is just as structured as is
  the syntax of prose, but it follows different
  rules.
• Poetry is usually structured in terms of
  end-rhyme, internal rhyme, scansion,
  alliteration, assonance, and rhythm. These
  surface-structure repetitions are called
  schemes.
• Robert Frost writes poetry that is based on
  schemes.
• In addition, poetry might have metaphor, paradox,
  enigma, symbolism, double entendre, parody,
  irony, satire, deadpan, or antithesis. These
  deep-structure meaning-based concepts are called
  tropes.
• e. e. cummings writes poetry that is based on
  tropes.

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Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Eveningby Robert
Frost

• Whose woods these are I think I know.
• His house is in the village though
• He will not see me stopping here
• To watch his woods fill up with snow.
• My little horse must think it queer
• To stop without a farmhouse near
• Between the wood and frozen lake
• The darkest evening of the year.

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• He gives his harness bells a shake
• To ask if there is some mistake.
• The only other sounds the sweep
• Of easy wind and downy flake.
• The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
• But I have promises to keep
• And miles to go before I sleep.
• And miles to go before I sleep.

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POETRY STRUCTURED BY TROPES

• In love, e. e. cummings breaks almost all of
  the rules not only of grammar but of poetry.
• He also uses Irony, Antithesis and Enigma to
  exploit the paradoxes and contradictions of
  love.
• Note that cummings also uses slant rhyme in order
  to break normal poetic conventions.

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• love is more thicker than forget
• more thinner than recall
• more seldom than a wave is wet
• more frequent than to fail
• it is most mad and moonly
• and less it shall unbe
• than all the sea which only
• is deeper than the sea

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• love is less always than to win
• less never than alive
• less bigger than the least begin
• less littler than forgive
• it is most sane and sunly
• and more it cannot die
• than all the sky which only
• is higher than the sky

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Humorous poetry is based on tropes. Here are
some examples from Shel Silversteins Where the
Sidewalk Ends

• Jimmy Jet and His TV Set (28-29)
• Smart (35)
• Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout (70-71)
• The Dirtiest Man in the World (96-97)
• Lazy Jane (87)

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Three Blind MiceFeaturing Taryn Nilsen, Our
Grand Daughter
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The Best Poetic Trope Deadpan Humor

• Mary Maxwells Deadpan Prayer
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vvPFCn3itBFE

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Doggerel Body Poetry for Small ChildrenHands,
Fingers, Heads, Shoulders, Knees, Toes, Eyes,
Ears, Mouth and Nose

• Peek a boo. I see you.
• Eensy weensy spider went up the water spout.
• Along came the rain and washed the spider out.
• Out came the sun and dried up all the rain.
• So eensy weensy spider went up the spout again.
• Head, shoulders, knees and toes. Knees and toes.
  Knees and toes.
• Head, shoulders, knees and toes. Eyes, Ears,
  Mouth and Nose.
• This little piggy went to market. This little
  piggy stayed home.
• This little piggy had roast beef. This little
  piggy had none.
• This little piggy cried wee wee wee wee. All the
  way home.

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In Conclusion, Here are Some Examples of
Nonsense Verse, Often in the form of Song Lyrics

• 99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of
  beer,
• If one of those bottles should happen to fall,
• 98 bottles of beer on the wall.
• 99 people lying in the bed,
• 99 people, and one of them said, Roll over.
• They all rolled over, and one rolled out.
• 98 people lyling in the bed.
• I went up one set of stairs Just like me.
• I went up another set of stairs Just like me.
• I went up a third set of stairs Just like me.
• And I saw a monkey Just like me.

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• I saw a rotten banana.
• I one it. I two it.
• I three it. I four it.
• I five it. I six it.
• I seven it. I eight it.
• (or I jumped over it and you ate it)
• I belong to a secret organization, and I can
  authorize you to join.
• But you must chant with me the secret
  incantation
• Owaa taagoo Siam.
• There are also jump-rope rhymes,
• And counting rhymes,
• Can you think of other types of folk poetry?

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Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

• I do not like them, Sam-I-am. I do not like
  green eggs and ham.
• Would you like them here or there?
• I would not like them here or there. I would not
  like them anywhere.
• I do not like lGreen eggs and ham. I do not like
  them, Sam-I-am.
• Would you like them in a house? Would you like
  them with a mouse?
• I do not like them in a house. I do not like
  them with a mouse.
• I do not like them here or there. I do not like
  them Anywhere
• I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like
  them Sam-I-am.

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Would you like to swing on a star?

• Would you like to swing on a star,
• Carry moonbeams home in a jar,
• And be better off than you are,
• Or would you rather be a mule.
• A mule is an animal with long funny ears.
• He kicks up at anything he hears.
• His back is brawny, but his brain is weak.
• Hes just plain stupid with a stubborn streak,
• And by the way, if you hate to go to school,
• You may grow up to be a mule.

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• Or would you like to swing on a star,
• Carry moonbeams home in a jar,
• And be better off than you are,
• Or would you rather be a pig?
• A pig is an animal with dirt on his face.
• Its feet are a terrible disgrace.
• He has no manners when it eats its food.
• Hes fat and sloppy, and extremely rude,
• But if you dont care a feather or a fig,
• You may grow up to be a pig.

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• Or would you like to swing on a star,
• Carry moonbeams home in a jar,
• And be better off than you are,
• Or would you rather be a fish?
• A fish wont do anything but swim in a brook.
• He cant write his name, or read a book.
• To fool the people is his only thought
• And though hes slippery, he still gets caught,
• But then if that sort of life is what you wish,
• You may grow up to be a fish

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Mairzy Doats

• Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy
  divey
• A kiddley divey too, wouldnt you.
• Now if the words sound queer and funny to your
  ear,
• Just a little bit jumbled up and jivey,
• Sing, Mares eat oats, and does eat oats,
• And little teeny lambs eat ivy.
• Oh, Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy
  divey
• A kiddley divey too, wouldnt you.
• Say! A kiddley divey too, wouldnt you.

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Dit, Dat, Dittem, Dattem, Wattem, Chew

• Dit, Dat, Dittem, Dattem, Wattem, Chew
• Swam three little fishes, and a Momma fishy too.
• Swim said the Momma and they swam and they swam
• And they swam and they swam all over the dam!
• Keep repeating until your parents say, Nuf o
  that.

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Ditties and Jingles in Advertising

• Oh Id love to be an Oscar Meyer Wiener.
• That is what I really want to be,
• Cause if I were an Oscar Meyer Wiener,
• Then everyone would be in love with me.
• Everybody doesnt like something,
• But nobody doesnt like Sara Lee.
• Call Roto Rooter, thats the name,
• And away goes trouble, down the drain.
• Im a Pepper shes a Pepper
• Wouldnt you like to be a Pepper too?

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• Meow Meow Meow Meow
• Meow Meow Meow Meow
• Meow Meow Meow Meow Meow Meow Meow Meow
• Meow Meow Meow Meow Meow Meow Meow Meow
• Meow Meow Meow Meow Meow.
• Meow Mix Cats ask for it by name.
• Mm Mm Good, Mm Mm Good.
• Thats what Campbells Soups are,
• Mm Mm Good.
• Id like to teach the world to sing, in perfect
  harmony,
• Id like to bye the world a Coke and keep it
  company.
• Its the real thing. Coca Cola is Coke.

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• Double your pleasure. Double your fun,
• With double good, double good, Doublemint
• Doublemint gum.
• Two all beef patties, special lettuce,
• Cheese, pickles, onions
• On a sesame seed bun.
• Big Mac, Im lovin it.
• Like a good neighbor,
• State Farm is there.
• When You say Budweiser,
• Youve said it all.