Collected Nonsense and Light Verse

by G.K. Chesterton

ABLE OF 1.) GREYBEARDS AT PLAY - and other nonsense -- 2.) THE ROLLING ENGLISH ROAD - Drinking and traveling songs -- 3.) THE WORSHIPPERS HALF-HOLIDAY - Parodies and burlesques -- 4.) BOB-UP-AND-DOWN - More nonsense -- 5.) CHUCK, IT SMITH - Satirical verses -- 6.) I THINK I WILL NOT HANG MYSELF TODAY - The collected ballades -- 7.) . . .OF WHOM HE WAS EXTREMELY FOND - Dedications and occasional verses * Index of Titles

Genres: British Literature, Poetry

192 pages, Hardcover

First published December 31, 1987

About the author

Gilbert Keith Chesterton was an English writer, philosopher, lay theologian, and literary and art critic.

He was educated at St. Paul’s, and went to art school at University College London. In 1900, he was asked to contribute a few magazine articles on art criticism, and went on to become one of the most prolific writers of all time. He wrote a hundred books, contributions to 200 more, hundreds of poems, including the epic Ballad of the White Horse, five plays, five novels, and some two hundred short stories, including a popular series featuring the priest-detective, Father Brown. In spite of his literary accomplishments, he considered himself primarily a journalist. He wrote over 4000 newspaper essays, including 30 years worth of weekly columns for the Illustrated London News, and 13 years of weekly columns for the Daily News. He also edited his own newspaper, G.K.’s Weekly.

Chesterton was equally at ease with literary and social criticism, history, politics, economics, philosophy, and theology.

Reviews

[Dane Cobain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up for free at the Global Education Trust “GET Free Books” pop-up store in High Wycombe, and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. I didn’t know too much about Chesterton beforehand, other than that he’s the author of the Father Brown books, but I thought it was about time to get to know his work.

I love me some nonsense poetry and Chesterton was great at it, and I also enjoyed his Clerihews, to the point at which I’ve been thinking about writing a collection of my own based on contemporary celebrities. For example: Taylor Swift / Works another shift. / She’s still not sure / About the Eras tour.

This has some of Chesterton’s illustrations thrown in as well, alongside a few notes here and there to provide some additional context. Considering that half of the thing is essentially meaningless, I found myself whizzing through it and enjoying every page. Definitely one for fans of playful poetry.

[W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chesterton isn't it?

[Laura Verret · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve long known that Chesterton was the author of non-fiction. I first read his Orthodoxy (a collection of essays) in 2008. Then I discovered his detective, Father Brown, in The Innocence of Father Brown. But I never knew of his status as poet until I purchased this collection of his poems.

These poems are light, clever, and farcical. They are exactly what one might expect from a man who spent his days writing intellectual prose. They read like the recess breaks of a gymnastic mind – off duty, but still rigged with flips and tumbles. Here are a few for your delectation.

Meditation in Rhyme

Of Uncle Humphrey who can sing?
His name can’t rhyme with anything,
How much superior is Aunt Harriet
Who rhymes correctly to Iscariot. [pg. 19]


I can sympathize with both Uncle Humphrey and Aunt Harriet as the only rhyme I’ve found for Laura is ‘aura’ which is just... weak.


I Thank the Goodness and the Grace

Red guards for the Soviet, White guards for the Czar:
Thank God we live where only Blackguards are. [pg. 99]


Here is a clerihew for your enjoyment.


The Spanish people think Cervantes
Equal to half a dozen Dantes;
An opinion resented most bitterly
By the people of Italy. [pg. 76]

His parodies of the major poets Yeats, Browning, and Whitman were simply masterful. Also, his variations on several famous poems (The Village Blacksmith and The Raven) in which he soberly interjected the word tomato at key moments were splendid.

Discussion.

Chesterton’s poetry is at once fanciful and rich, simple and complex. He makes no attempt to digest his material – that he leaves for his readers. He doesn’t pretend we are babies and must have our material edited and altered for our edification; rather he gives us the world as it is and as he has perceived it. We may grind or spit out which bones we choose.

Conclusion.A fun read for anyone interested in light verse.

[Keith · Rating 2 out of 5]

As avid reader of Carroll, Lear and Seuss, I've come across G. K. Chesterton quite often, so I was glad to find this book at the store and I eagerly bought it. I was, however, disappointed. There are some good poems, but overall the book is a bit dry. Much of this work is satire, and I'm not sure I know what he is satirizing. Other poems are occassional verse. Some, I suspect, are private jokes with his friends.

There are some nuggets buried in this book, but you must do a lot of digging to find them. I wouldn't recommend this book.

"And Mimmer! Music he in sum!
He played the fiddled, fife and drum
He played the fool, when all was spent,
It was his favorite instrument."

[Maiya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Chesterton, and wanted to like this more than I actually did. It has some gems that are worth mining for, but overall it became a bit of a chore to finish. A lot of the satire and references, and the introduction partly acknowledges this, are just too obscure for most contemporary readers I think.

(Edit: Would probably have enjoyed it more if I had kept it by my bed to read a few pages of every night instead of going through it in big chunks, so that's on me.)