# Ogden Nash **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 14, 2014, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ogden-nash/690794 "2014-06-14T21:35:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ogden-nash/690794/21 "2014-06-15T01:45:26Z")
> [@JWT\_Kottekoe](#): > > Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker. I think that. is Dorothy Parker. And **Snowboarder Bo** ,yours sounds like a Burma Shave ad. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ogden-nash/690794/22 "2014-06-15T02:10:04Z")
> [@Skara\_Brae](#): > > It was “The Pelican.” Actually by a guy named [Dixon Merritt](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixon_Lanier_Merritt). Cool! Thanks! I love that’n! ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ogden-nash/690794/23 "2014-06-15T04:06:35Z")
I’ve enjoyed Nash’s poetry since I was a little kid, especially his narration to Saint-Saëns’ [_Carnival of the Animals._](http://www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/RZ/lehre/C++/4/carnival) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ogden-nash/690794/24 "2014-06-15T04:13:06Z")
Ah, yes. Fred Nash. Funny guy. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ogden-nash/690794/25 "2014-06-15T04:21:34Z")
> [@JWT\_Kottekoe](#): > > Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker. > [@kayT](#): > > I think that. is Dorothy Parker. > And **Snowboarder Bo** ,yours sounds like a Burma Shave ad. No, it’s Nash. He later added a third line: Pot is not. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ogden-nash/690794/26 "2014-06-15T05:36:11Z")
The Ant ## The ant has made herself illustrious By constant industry industrious. So what? Would you be calm and placid If you were full of formic acid? I believe this one is also by Nash, although I’m not positive. I eat my peas with honey; I’ve done it all my life. It makes the peas taste funny, But it keeps them on the knife. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ogden-nash/690794/27 "2014-06-15T07:05:36Z")
As far as I remember, he was first broached in eighth-grade English (1978-9 in my case). I think that I shall never see A billboard lovely as a tree. Indeed, unless the billboards fall, I’ll never see a tree at all. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ogden-nash/690794/28 "2014-06-15T07:38:07Z")
“a waterbed filled with wine” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ogden-nash/690794/29 "2014-06-15T07:48:59Z")
‘The Lama’ is one of my favorites, too. Another one of my favorites, since I was a kid, is one I recite whenever I can: A panther is like a leopard Except it hasn’t been peppered. If you behold a panther crouch Prepare to say, ‘Ouch!’ Better yet, if called by a panther Don’t anther. > [@Colibri](#): > > One of my favorites: > > **The Lama** ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ogden-nash/690794/30 "2014-06-15T10:41:22Z")
**The Turtle** The turtle lives 'twixt plated decks Which practically conceal its sex. I think it clever of the turtle in such a fix to be so fertile. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ogden-nash/690794/31 "2014-06-15T11:03:45Z")
Love his stuff - makes me smile and is really well crafted. Why’s this thread is IMHO? A poetry thread won’t get much show. Shouldn’t this be in Cafe Society? I believe so - but not with piety. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ogden-nash/690794/32 "2014-06-15T17:57:22Z")
“I think that I shall never see A billboard lovely as a tree. Perhaps, unless the billboards falls, I’ll never see a tree at all.” Still, sadly, relevant. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ogden-nash/690794/33 "2014-06-15T18:43:30Z")
Moving over to CS. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ogden-nash/690794/34 "2014-06-15T19:19:20Z")
The Shrimp A shrimp who sought his lady shrimp Could catch no glimpse, Not even a glimp. At times, translucence Is rather a nuisance. ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ogden-nash/690794/35 "2014-06-15T19:24:45Z")
The Germ A mighty creature is the germ, Though smaller than a pachyderm. His customary dwelling place Is deep within the human race. His childish pride he often pleases By giving people strange diseases. Do you, my poppet, feel infirm? You probably contain a germ. I remember my Dad reading this one to us. RIP, Dad. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ogden-nash/690794/36 "2014-06-15T19:41:50Z")
I always liked his humorous verse but I did not get the serious undertones of much of it until later. This was the first to throw me for for a loop and make me realize “this isn’t just Nipsey Russell”, because it’s actually very somber, especially having grown up around many old people: People expect old men to die. They do not really mourn old men. Old men are different. People look At them with eyes that wonder when… People watch with unshocked eyes; But the old men know when an old man dies. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ogden-nash/690794/37 "2014-06-15T21:19:59Z")
Wow. > [@C3](#): > > I never learned about Ogden Nash in school, but when I was about 8 or 9, I bought a book of his poetry at a school book fair. He quickly became a favorite. I passed the book down to my 10 year old son and he loves it now, too. (I’m 41.) Like\*\* C3\*\*, I was mostly exposed, at a young age, to a book collection of his animal poems. A couple of times in high school, one of his poems would be an entry in an anthology that was being used, but he was never explicitly taught. Now I’m wondering how much I missed by only knowing the animals. There may be googling. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ogden-nash/690794/38 "2014-06-15T21:36:03Z")
As a kid in the '60s I had the [Pocket Book of Ogden Nash](http://www.amazon.com/Pocket-Book-Ogden-Nash/dp/B00BTI1SSK) collection, which I read over and over until it fell apart. Always loved his stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ogden-nash/690794/39 "2014-06-15T22:24:49Z")
I wonder if Nash ever expressed an opinion of Henry Gibson from _Laugh In_. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ogden-nash/690794/40 "2014-06-15T23:15:25Z")
Nash was so distinctive that everyone from MAD to National Lampoon had a go of parodying him. The weirdest one I know, though, was by of all people Robert Coover, who used him to attack Nixon during Watergate. It’s called “The Royal Treatment” and starts like this: > [@](#): > > I would like to publicly proclaim that I, for one, do not think the President is guilty of base, low, or tiny-minded malfeasance > And that although the former Vice-President has made me sad, at least he didn’t do anything that could correctly be described as high treasance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ogden-nash/690794.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ogden-nash/690794.md?page=3)