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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".
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...
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.
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."
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.