Light Verse .
Poems intended
to be humorous or witty . Types of light verse include :
1-] Vers de
societe : Those are characterized by :
Brief length ,
playful mood , social relationships as the subject , sophisticated style and
terse tone [ brisk and generally rhymed rhythm ] .
2-] Parody : A comic or satiric imitation of a more
serious work that ridicules a work , an author or a style .
A parody can
be fun to write , especially when the original poem has a very pronounced
rhythm or mood . Edgar Allan Poe’s “ The Raven” has such a distinctive rhythm
pattern that it works well in parody .
Ex . Here is
the first stanza of the original poem :
Once upon a
midnight dreamy , while I pondered , weak and weary .
Over many
acquaint and curious volume of forgotten lore ,
While I nodded
, nearly napping , suddenly there came a tapping .
As of some one
gently rapping , rapping at my chamber door .
“Tis some
visitor,” I muttered , “ tapping at my chamber door –
Only this and nothing more .
Here is a
parody of the preceding stanza .
Once upon a
schoolday dreary , while I studied , weak and weary .
Over many
acquaint and curious volume of literature .
Feeling grisly
, grim and grumbling , suddenly there came a rumbling .
A gruesome
gripping kind of rumbling , rumbling that was premature .
“Tiiiiis my
stomach ,” then I muttered , “ rumbling here so premature –
Candy bars will be the cure .
3-] Limerick :
A poem of five anapestic lines with an aabba
rhyme scheme . Lines 1,2 and 5 are trimeter , lines 3 and 4 are dimeter . The
limerick is a form of nonsense verse .
x x
/ x x
/ x x /
I sat next /
to the Duch / ess at tea . a
x
x / x x
/ x x
/
It was just /
as I thought / it would be .
a
X
/ x x
x x
Her rumblings
ab / dominal .
b
x / x x /
x x
Were simply
phe / nomenal . b
x
/ x x
/ x x
/
And ev / ery
one thought / it was me . a
4-] Occasional
Verse : Genrally written for specific occasions , such as
coronations , birthdays , and deaths . For official occasions , the English
poet laureate is expected to write the occasional poem . An often cited
occasional poem was written in 1681 by Andrew Marvell . The poem “ An Horatian
Ode Upon Cromwell’s Return From Ireland ,” is based upon Cromwell’s return to
England in 1650 , at which time he prepared to go to battle against the Scots .
5-] Epigrams :
They are short poems that are
characteristically witty with a twist in the thought at the end . An epigram ,
however , can also be defined as simply a clever saying used for a variety of
purposes including to eulogize , to compliment or to satirize .
This anonymous
Latin epigram sums up the point .
6-] Epitaph : Generally a short poem { an epigram ]
intended for a tombstone [ or as if for carving on a tombstone . The epitaph
may be comic .
My Own Epitaph . By : John Gay
Life is a jest
; and all things show it .
I thought so
once ; but now I know it .
An Epitaph
Upon A Young Married Couple .
Dead And Buried Together
. By : Richard Crashaw
To these ,
whom death again did wed ,
This grave is
their second marriage-bed .
For thought
the hand of fate could force
“ Twixt soul
and body a divorce , It could not sunder man and wife
Cause they
both livéd but one life .
Peace , good
reader , Do not weep
Peace , the
lovers are asleep
They sweet
turtles , folded lie
In the last
knot love could tie .
And though
they lie as they were dead ,
Their pillow
stone , their sheets of lead ,
( Pillow hard
, and sheets not warm )
Love made the
bed ; they’ll take no harm ;
Let them sleep
, let them sleep on .
Till this
stormy night be gone ,
Till
th’eternal morrow dawn ;
Then the
curtains will be drawn
And they wake
into a light ,
Whose day
shall never die in night .
7-] Epigraph [
motto ] : The quotation or inscription on a statue , on a coin ,
before chapter headings , and on title pages of books .
8-] Clerihew Named after the writer of detective fiction [ Edmund
Clerihew Bentley ] .
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