Ogden Nash
Overview
 
Frederic Ogden Nash was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

 well known for his light verse
Light poetry
Light poetry, or light verse, is poetry 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, including puns, adventurous rhyme and heavy alliteration...

. At the time of his death in 1971, the New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

 said his "droll verse with its unconventional rhyme
Rhyme
A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words and is most often used in poetry and songs. The word "rhyme" may also refer to a short poem, such as a rhyming couplet or other brief rhyming poem such as nursery rhymes.-Etymology:...

s made him the country's best-known producer of humorous poetry".
Nash was born in Rye
Rye (city), New York
Rye is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is separate from the town of Rye, which is larger than the city. Rye city, formerly the village of Rye, was part of the town until 1942, when it received its charter as a city, the most recent to be issued in New York...

, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. His father owned and operated an import-export company, and because of business obligations, the family relocated often.

His family lived briefly in Savannah, GA in a carriage house owned by Juliette Gordon Low
Juliette Gordon Low
Juliette Gordon Low was an American youth leader and the founder of the Girl Scouts of the USA in 1912.-Early life:...

, founder of the Girl Scouts of the USA
Girl Scouts of the USA
The Girl Scouts of the United States of America is a youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad. It describes itself as "the world's preeminent organization dedicated solely to girls". It was founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912 and was organized after Low...

; he wrote a poem about Mrs.
Quotations

Candy Is Dandy But liquor Is quicker.

"Reflections on Ice-Breaking" in Hard Lines (1931); this statement is often misattributed to Dorothy Parker.

Man is a victim of dopeIn the incurable form of hope.

"Good-by, Old Year, You Oaf or Why Don't They Pay the Bonus?" in The Primrose Path (1935)

Every New Year is the direct descendant, isn't it, of a long line of proven criminals?

"Good-by, Old Year, You Oaf or Why Don't They Pay the Bonus?" in The Primrose Path (1935)

Just when you think that at least the outlook is so black that it can grow no blacker, it worsens,And that is why I do not like the news, because there has never been an era when so many things were going so right for so many of the wrong persons.

"Everybody Tells Me Everything" in The Face Is Familiar (1940)

A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of.

"A Dog's Best Friend Is His Illiteracy" in The Private Dining Room (1953)

I dreamt that my hair was kempt. Then I dreamt that my true love unkempt it.

"My Dream" in You Can't Get There from Here (1957)

It is common knowledge to every schoolboy and even every Bachelor of Arts,That all sin is divided into two parts.One kind of sin is called a sin of commission, and that is very important And it is what you are doing when you are doing something you ortant...

"Portrait of the Artist as a Prematurely Old Man" in The Family Album of Favorite Poems (1959) edited by P. Edward Ernest.

It is the sin of omission, the second kind of sin,That lays eggs under your skin.

"Portrait of the Artist as a Prematurely Old Man" (1959)

The moral is that it is probably better not to sin at all, but ifsome kind of sin you must be pursuing,Well, remember to do it by doing rather than by not doing.

"Portrait of the Artist as a Prematurely Old Man" (1959)

To keep your marriage brimming, With love in the loving cup, Whenever you're wrong, admit it; Whenever you're right, shut up.

"A Word to Husbands" in Marriage Lines (1964)

 
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