ABC Wednesday

The Notable letter this week is N

N is for NASH, - Ogden, that is.

Frederick Ogden Nash, an American poet who delighted his readers with light, humorous verse, was born in August of 1902.  He died in 1971.

I discovered him early and some of his books have resided on my shelves since before we (Charles and I) were married, back in antiquity.

From 'Good Intentions', first published in 1937....

So That's Who I Remind Me Of


When I consider men of golden talents,
I'm delighted, in my introverted way,
To discover, as I'm drawing up the balance,
How much we have in common, I and they.


Like Burns, I have a weakness for the bottle,
Like Shakespeare, little Latin and less Greek;
I bite my fingernails like Aristotle;
Like Thackeray, I have a snobbish streak.


I'm afflicted with the vanity of Byron,
I've inherited the spitefulness of Pope;
Like Petrarch, I'm a sucher for a siren,
Like Milton, I've a tendency to mope.


My spelling is suggestive of a Chaucer;
Like Johnson, well, I do not wish to die
(I also drink my coffee from the saucer);
And if Goldsmith was a parrot, so am I.


Like Villon, I have debits by the carload,
Like Swinburne, I'm afraid I need a nurse;
By my dicing is Christopher out-Marlowed,
And I dream as much as Coleridge, only worse.


In comparison with men of golden talents,
I am all a man of talent ought to be;
I resemble every genius in his vice, however heinous -
Yet I write so much like me.

and from YouTube - The Sunset Years of Samuel Shy by Ogden Nash



Though Ogden Nash wrote light humourous poetry the wit and cleverness of his poems earned him spots in American Anthologies of Great Poets.

For more N's do nod over to ABC Wednesday, here.http://abcwednesdayround3.blogspot.com/