The poet's laughter
In the same way that didactic poetry is written mainly to instruct, there is a kind of poetry that is written mainly for pleasure, to make the reader laugh. It is called light verse, or comic verse.
Successful comic poems will usually be short, in simple language with obvious rhyme patterns and marked "catchy" rhythms. This might also be a description of a popular song; and in fact, there has always been a close link between comic verse and song-from the humorous ballads: sung by medieval minstrels to "comic operas" like those of the 1gth-century English collaborators W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan (whose work is still widely popular today).
The following lines, from The Gondoliers, are typical of the verse of W. S. Gilbert (1836-1911) and of the nature of light verse in general :
Even lighter than light verse (because less apparently "sensible") is a kind of poetry called nonsense verse, in which the poet also uses simple rhymes and rhythms, but includes made-up words, ridiculous characters and situations, and generally as much absurdity as his imagination can provide. The English writer Lewis Carroll (1832-98) began his typical nonsense poem "Jabberwocky" in this way :
Nonsense verse is often written for children, but much of the best of it-like the verse of England's Edward Lear (1812-88)-has always appealed just as much to adults.
Some humorous poetry is intended not only to make the reader laugh but to serve a serious purpose as well. This kind of poetry, called satire, combines comic and didactic poetry. It uses humor to attack the wrongs that the poet sees in his society.
For frivolous purposes, the irony was often used; for example, in despiteful attacks on individuals. The poets of the late 17th and 18th centuries, including John Dryden of England (1631-1700), used satire as a means of literary in-fighting, mostly to ridicule their rivals. Yet generally the best satires follow the precedent given by the great Roman poets Horace * and Juvenal (first century A.D.). They wrote their poetry against harmful social evils and it made very clear the constructive, therapeutic intent.
In France of the 12th century, the Church used satires on the sins and faults of man to illustrate the principles of Christian behaviour. The Bishop of Rennes, Étienne Fougère, wrote one of the finest of them, The Book of Manners. So other individual satirists have had a common high moral purpose — for example, the satires of Germany's Gotthold Lessing against religious bigotry (1729-81).
Even at the detriment of satire, the satirical poet who feels a visceral disdain for the things he condemns will stress social critique. For example, Juvenal was more venomous than humorous; and the bitter satires of the German poet Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) make little laugh. But there is a milder type of humor, called parody, which only through its absurdity works or fails.
A verse parody imitates a literary style and ridicules it. If it's done right, it can be a powerful method of criticism that exposes the flaws of the parodied work. Here, for example, is the first stanza of a poem by the English poet Robert Southey (1774-1843) entitled "The Old Man's Comforts, and how he gained them,":
And here is the opening of a parody of that poem (now far more famous than the original) by Lewis Carroll :
 |
Illustration from a medieval English psalter
includes a familiar figure from popular verse -Reynard, the cunning fox. Reynard's tricks were the subject of a satirical French poem written by Pierre de Saint Cloud about 1175 and translated into many European languages |
Successful comic poems will usually be short, in simple language with obvious rhyme patterns and marked "catchy" rhythms. This might also be a description of a popular song; and in fact, there has always been a close link between comic verse and song-from the humorous ballads: sung by medieval minstrels to "comic operas" like those of the 1gth-century English collaborators W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan (whose work is still widely popular today).
 |
Woodcut above, from a late 15th-century edi- tion of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, depicts the Wife of Bath-one of the most humorous characters in English poetry. Her story, pre- faced by descriptions of her five husbands, gives Chaucer an opportunity for hearty satire on the subject of women and marriage. |
The following lines, from The Gondoliers, are typical of the verse of W. S. Gilbert (1836-1911) and of the nature of light verse in general :
In enterprise of martial kind,
When there was any fighting,
He led his regiment from behind-
He found it less exciting.
But when away his regiment ran
His place was at the fore, O,
That celebrated,
Cultivated,
Underrated
Nobleman,
The Duke of Plaza-Toro!
Even lighter than light verse (because less apparently "sensible") is a kind of poetry called nonsense verse, in which the poet also uses simple rhymes and rhythms, but includes made-up words, ridiculous characters and situations, and generally as much absurdity as his imagination can provide. The English writer Lewis Carroll (1832-98) began his typical nonsense poem "Jabberwocky" in this way :
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
 |
Woodcut from the first edition of The
Ship of Fools (1494), written by Sebastian Brant of Alsace. The poet satirizes Church and state by describing how people from every social class-lawyers, priests, princes, and peasants-set sail for the Land of Fools. |
Nonsense verse is often written for children, but much of the best of it-like the verse of England's Edward Lear (1812-88)-has always appealed just as much to adults.
Some humorous poetry is intended not only to make the reader laugh but to serve a serious purpose as well. This kind of poetry, called satire, combines comic and didactic poetry. It uses humor to attack the wrongs that the poet sees in his society.
For frivolous purposes, the irony was often used; for example, in despiteful attacks on individuals. The poets of the late 17th and 18th centuries, including John Dryden of England (1631-1700), used satire as a means of literary in-fighting, mostly to ridicule their rivals. Yet generally the best satires follow the precedent given by the great Roman poets Horace * and Juvenal (first century A.D.). They wrote their poetry against harmful social evils and it made very clear the constructive, therapeutic intent.
 |
"Great Agrippa," character in Heinrich Hoffmann's comical German poem Struwwelpeter (1847), dips disrespectful boys into his giant inkwell. |
Even at the detriment of satire, the satirical poet who feels a visceral disdain for the things he condemns will stress social critique. For example, Juvenal was more venomous than humorous; and the bitter satires of the German poet Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) make little laugh. But there is a milder type of humor, called parody, which only through its absurdity works or fails.
 |
Illustration by Sir John Tenniel shows the antics of Father William in Lewis Carroll's verse parody. |
A verse parody imitates a literary style and ridicules it. If it's done right, it can be a powerful method of criticism that exposes the flaws of the parodied work. Here, for example, is the first stanza of a poem by the English poet Robert Southey (1774-1843) entitled "The Old Man's Comforts, and how he gained them,":
"You are old, Father William," the young man cried,
"The few locks which are left you are grey;
You are hale, Father William, a hearty old man,
Now tell me the reason, I pray."
 |
The Jellicle cats, from Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, by American-born poet, dramatist, and critic T. S. Eliot. |
And here is the opening of a parody of that poem (now far more famous than the original) by Lewis Carroll :
"Tou are old, Father William," the young man said,
"And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head-
Do you think, at your age, it is right?"
ConversionConversion EmoticonEmoticon