Marriage Lines: Notes of a Student Husband

by Ogden Nash

Ogden Nash, versemaker extraordinaire tackles a subject he had a third of a century of experience by the time he wrote this charming & clever book, the topic of marriage. Readers will marvel (and thoroughly enjoy) how Mr. Nash captures the feelings and reactions of couples always with a wry good-humored twist. Expect lines by Nash such "I love you more than a duck can swim, and more than a grapefruit squirts, I love you more than commericals are a bore, and more than a toothache hurts."

Genres: Poetry, Humor, Relationships

108 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Frederic Ogden Nash was an American poet well known for his light verse. At the time of his death in 1971, the New York Times said his "droll verse with its unconventional rhymes made him the country's best-known producer of humorous poetry".

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of the poems were witty and fun, though I did find that some almost seemed like the poems you'd write in high school where you would need a rhyming word so you'd just go to the dictionary and try to find one even though it was a bit of a stretch...

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining and humorous. Well worth my time.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

A word to husbands
To keep your marriage brimming,
With love in the loving cup,
Whenever you're wrong, admit it;
Whenever you're right, shut up.

Crossing the border
Senescence begins
And middle age ends
The day your descendants
Outnumber your friends.

[Tammy Downing · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely delightful group of poems regarding marriage.

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mildly entertaining. Recommended by Nate.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

relatable if i was married, rlly funny. pictured my parents and grandparents while reading

[Shane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ogden Nash does what he does so wonderfully well that I feel it's more my limitation than his when I don't fully appreciate his writs. One of the issues I had with this book is it often contains the sort of POV that "Women are X, Men are Y ..." and I often roll my eyeballs when I hear folks spouting strictly defined gender roles.


But: Nash's wordplay is delightful, and as often as he reinforces stereotypes, he challenges others. Anywho, I'm not really 'finished' reading this book, because it's one that one can read 'in' instead of reading through - and also one that demands a reread when one has more time and attention. Nonethelest, I'm finished reading it for now, because it needs to be returned to the library, where hopefully someone will pluck it from the shelves and give it its due appreciation.

[Joanne G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've awarded five stars because of the significance one of the poems has for our family. My husband recited "A Word to Husbands" to our son at his wedding rehearsal dinner:

"To keep your marriage brimming,
With love in the loving cup,
Whenever you're wrong, admit it;
Whenever you're right, shut up."

Brilliant advice for anyone in a relationship.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Perfect Husband
He tells you when you've got too much lipstick,
And helps you with your girdle when your hips stick.

My Dream
Here is a dream,
It is my dream,
My own dream,
I dreamt it.
I dreamt that my hair was kempt,
Then I dreamt that my true love unkempt it.

[Timons Esaias · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the collections that Nash put together, based on subject. It's a pleasant jumble of observations on dating, marriage, and children; some of them very sweet. The major theme, I suspect, is the amount of time men spend waiting on women.

[Tara]

Deelightful. Ogden is wonderful.

[E.C.R. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Clever rhymes without much insight.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

These aren't Nash's best, but most of them are fairly entertaining.

[R.K. Cowles · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars

[Sandy Rose]

Bingo...poetry