Light poetry, or light verse, is poetry

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

 that attempts to be humorous. Poems considered "light" are usually brief, and can be on a frivolous or serious subject, and often feature word play

Word play

Word play or wordplay is a literary technique in which the words that are used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement...

, including pun

Pun

The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...

s, adventurous rhyme and heavy alliteration

Alliteration

In language, alliteration refers to the repetition of a particular sound in the first syllables of Three or more words or phrases. Alliteration has historically developed largely through poetry, in which it more narrowly refers to the repetition of a consonant in any syllables that, according to...

. Typically, light verse in English is formal verse, although a few free verse poets, such as Billy Collins

Billy Collins

Billy Collins is an American poet, appointed as Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. He is a Distinguished Professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York and is the Senior Distinguished Fellow of the Winter Park Institute, Florida...

, have excelled at light verse outside the formal verse tradition.

While light poetry is sometimes condemned as doggerel

Doggerel

Doggerel is a derogatory term for verse considered of little literary value. The word probably derived from dog, suggesting either ugliness, puppyish clumsiness, or unpalatability in the 1630s.-Variants:...

, or thought of as poetry composed casually, humor often makes a serious point in a subtle or subversive way. Many of the most renowned "serious" poets, such as Horace, Swift, Pope and Auden, have also excelled at light verse.

Selected notable English poets in this genre

In English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, poets who are well known for their light poetry include:

Hilaire Belloc Hilaire Belloc Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc was an Anglo-French writer and historian who became a naturalised British subject in 1902. He was one of the most prolific writers in England during the early twentieth century. He was known as a writer, orator, poet, satirist, man of letters and political activist... John Betjeman John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman, CBE was an English poet, writer and broadcaster who described himself in Who's Who as a "poet and hack".He was a founding member of the Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture... Lord Byron C. S. Calverley Lewis Carroll Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the... Charles E. Carryl Charles E. Carryl Charles Edward Carryl was an American children's literature author.-Biography:Born in New York, his father was a prosperous businessman. Carryl became a successful businessman and stockbroker, and for 34 years from 1874 he held a seat on the New York Stock Exchange... Brian P. Cleary Brian P. Cleary Brian P. Cleary, is an American humorist, poet, and author. He is best-known for his books that explore grammar in humorous ways written for grade-school children.-Education and career:... Wendy Cope Wendy Cope Wendy Cope, OBE is an award-winning contemporary English poet. She read history at St Hilda's College, Oxford. She now lives in Ely with the poet Lachlan Mackinnon.-Biography:...

Henry Austin Dobson Henry Austin Dobson Henry Austin Dobson , commonly Austin Dobson, was an English poet and essayist.-Life:He was born at Plymouth, the eldest son of George Clarisse Dobson, a civil engineer, of French descent. When he was about eight, the family moved to Holyhead, and his first school was at Beaumaris in Anglesey... T. S. Eliot T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...  (Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats is a collection of whimsical poems by T. S. Eliot about feline psychology and sociology, published by Faber and Faber. It is the basis for the record-setting musical Cats.... ) Willard R. Espy Willard R. Espy Willard Richardson Espy was a U.S. editor, philologist, writer, and poet. He is particularly remembered for his anthology of light verse and word play, An Almanac of Words at Play, and its two sequels... Gavin Ewart Gavin Ewart Gavin Buchanan Ewart was a British poet best known for contributing to Geoffrey Grigson's New Verse at the age of seventeen.-Life:... Charles Ghigna Charles Ghigna Charles Ghigna is an American children's author, poet, speaker and nationally syndicated feature writer.... W. S. Gilbert W. S. Gilbert Sir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include H.M.S... Thomas Hood Thomas Hood Thomas Hood was a British humorist and poet. His son, Tom Hood, became a well known playwright and editor.-Early life:... Frank Jacobs Frank Jacobs Frank Jacobs is an American author of satires, known primarily for his work in Mad, to which he has contributed since 1957. Jacobs has written a wide variety of lampoons and spoof, but he is best known as a versifier who contributes parodies of famous song lyrics and poems... John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester , styled Viscount Wilmot between 1652 and 1658, was an English Libertine poet, a friend of King Charles II, and the writer of much satirical and bawdy poetry. He was the toast of the Restoration court and a patron of the arts... X. J. Kennedy X. J. Kennedy X. J. Kennedy is a poet, translator, anthologist, editor, and writer of children's literature and student textbooks on English literature and poetry.-Beginnings and academic career:...

Edward Lear Edward Lear Edward Lear was an English artist, illustrator, author, and poet, renowned today primarily for his literary nonsense, in poetry and prose, and especially his limericks, a form that he popularised.-Biography:... J. Patrick Lewis J. Patrick Lewis J. Patrick Lewis is an American poet and prose writer noted for his children's poems and other light verse. He worked as professor of economics before devoting himself full-time to writing in 1998.- Career :J... Phyllis McGinley Phyllis McGinley Phyllis McGinley was an American writer of children's books and poet about the positive aspects of suburban life.McGinley was born in Ontario, Oregon... Ogden Nash Ogden Nash Frederic Ogden Nash was an American poet well known for his light verse. At the time of his death in 1971, the New York Times said his "droll verse with its unconventional rhymes made him the country's best-known producer of humorous poetry".-Early life:Nash was born in Rye, New York... Dorothy Parker Dorothy Parker Dorothy Parker was an American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist, best known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th century urban foibles.... Alexander Pope Alexander Pope Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson... Shel Silverstein Shel Silverstein Sheldon Allan "Shel" Silverstein , was an American poet, singer-songwriter, musician, composer, cartoonist, screenwriter and author of children's books. He styled himself as Uncle Shelby in his children's books... Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St... John Whitworth John Whitworth (poet) -Life:He graduated from Merton College, Oxford.His work appears in Poetry Review, The Times Literary Supplement, London Magazine, The Spectator, Quadrant, New poetry, and The Flea.He taught a master class at University of Kent....

See also

• Clerihew
  Clerihew
  A clerihew is a whimsical, four-line biographical poem invented by Edmund Clerihew Bentley. One of his best known is this :* It is biographical and usually whimsical, showing the subject from an unusual point of view; it pokes fun at mostly famous people...
  
  
• Double dactyl
  Double dactyl
  A dactyl is a term used in formal English poetry to describe a trisyllablic metrical foot made up of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed ones. Matador, realize, cereal and limerick as well as the word poetry itself are examples of words that are themselves dactyls...
  
  
• Epigram
  Epigram
  An epigram is a brief, interesting, usually memorable and sometimes surprising statement. Derived from the epigramma "inscription" from ἐπιγράφειν epigraphein "to write on inscribe", this literary device has been employed for over two millennia....
  
  
• Limerick
  Limerick (poetry)
  A limerick is a kind of a witty, humorous, or nonsense poem, especially one in five-line or meter with a strict rhyme scheme , which is sometimes obscene with humorous intent. The form can be found in England as of the early years of the 18th century...
  
  
• McWhirtle
  McWhirtle
  A McWhirtle is a light verse form similar to a double dactyl, invented in 1989 by American poet Bruce Newling. McWhirtles share essentially the same form as double dactyls, but without the strict requirements, making them easier to write...
  
  
• Nonsense verse
  Nonsense verse
  Nonsense verse is a form of light, often rhythmical verse, usually for children, depicting peculiar characters in amusing and fantastical situations. It is whimsical and humorous in tone and tends to employ fanciful phrases and meaningless made-up words. Nonsense verse is closely related to...
  
  
• Michael Braude Award for Light Verse
  Michael Braude Award for Light Verse
  The Michael Braude Award for Light Verse is a biennial award given for light verse in the English language, regardless of the author's nationality. It is presented by the American Academy of Arts and Letters and is accompanied by a $5,000 payment. Mrs...
  
  

External links

• Light Verse Resource Center
• Light Quarterly
• asinine poetry
• Love is All Box and No Cornflakes
• Funny Poets
• The Epic of Marmarad
• A Rhyme That's Weak Every Week
• Lighten Up - quarterly light verse webzine.
• The Weekly Poem - weekly satirical poem.
• Word Chowder by Scott Emmons
• The Daily Rhyme by Scott Emmons
• The Poetry of Tim Forsythe