Biography of Ogden Nash Essay -- Papers

Ogden Nash was born on August 19, 1902 in Rye, freshly York and was raised there and in Savannah, Georgia. He have his education from St. Georges School in Rhode Island and he also attended Harvard University. His first published poem Spring Comes to Murray Hill was featured in the New Yorker Magazine in 1930. He subsequently joined the staff of the New Yorker Magazine in 1932. Throughout his c areer he published a hit of nineteen books of poetry before his death on May 19, 1971. He manipulates the English language to fit in his poems to male jokes and keep his audience entertained. Nash says he gave up hope of becoming a serious poet and decided that it would be better to be a good spoiled poet than to be a bad good poet. Ogden Nash employs the use of humor and light hearted verse to talk about relationships, parenting, and life in general. Relationships were unrivalled of Ogden Nashs most write about subjects. Relationships are a hard subject t o print fun poetry about, but Nash makes it work like a charm by using funny generalizations and make them rhyme. He can do this like no other with any voice he feels needed. He uses serious, silly, and sincere tones in his work relating to relationships. In one poem in particular u of an Ode to Duty he tells about the confusing ever confusing relationship between men and women, and seems to take no obvious side in the matter. On some occasions he writes in conventional modes, which means dropping the playful and the lightly satirical to write the pure lyric or to add a didactic note to the prevailing humorous tenor of his verse, (Louis Hasley,2). Many of his poems about this topic are written with a personal feel, reading them makes you feel as... ... which he views on a daily basis. The expression of wisdom, the incongruous sound effects, the comic deflation, all serve to delight the poet-fool to his audience,(George Crandell,3). Through viewing Nashs poetry I have lear ned that there needs to be a voice like his out in society to comment on nonsense, otherwise we would lose touch with our senses of humor. Works CitedCrandell, George W. Studies in American Humor, Vol. 7, 1989, pp.94-103.http//www.galenet.com/servelet/LitRC/ (10/26/1999)Frankenberg, Lloyd The New York Times Book Review, November 19, 1950, p.4http//www.galenet.com/servelet/LitRC/ (10/26/1999)McCord, David The Saturday Review, February 10, 1951, p. 18http//www.galenet.com/servelet/LitRC/ (10/26/1999)Hasley, Louis The Arizona Quarterly, Vol.27, 1971, pp. 241-250http//www.galenet.com/servelet/LitRC/ (10/26/1999)