The Oxford Book of Comic Verse

by JohnGross (Editor)

• Used

  Hardcover
  1994

  $4.66

  From Geoffrey Chaucer to G.K. Chesterton and Augustan Satire to advertising jingles, John Updike to Vikram Seth and Victoria Wood, comic verse has, in its many forms, kept us amused for centuries. This anthology reflects the international scope of humour by bringing together poets from beyond the British Isles. Drawing on many different types of verse, from epigrams to street balleds, clerihews to music-hall, the double-dactyl to the calypso, it offers a wide range of comic pleasures. The poems in this collection are by turns subtle, down-to-earth, macabre, ingenious, acerbic, ribald, and cheerful. The established classics of comic verse, by writers such as Tom Hood, W.S. Gilbert, and Ogden Nash, are represented in force, but many unfamiliar or unexpected names are also included; as are many pieces by current or recent writers.

• Used

  Paperback
  1995

  $3.25

  From Geoffrey Chaucer to G. K. Chesterton, Augustan satire to advertising jingles, John Updike to Vikram Seth and Victoria Wood, comic verse, has in its many forms, kept us amused for centuries. This superb anthology, notable above all for its breadth, reflects the international scope of humour by bringing together poets from far beyond the British Isles. Drawing on many different types of verse - epigrams, street ballads, clerihews, music-hall lyrics, and the double-dactyl - it offers an exceptionally wide range of comic pleasures. The poems are by turns subtle, down-to-earth, macabre, ingenious, acerbic, ribald and cheerful; written to amuse, they call forth laughter and delight in equal measure. This book is intended for buyers of poetry, anthologies, humorous books.