Arthur Guiterman

Arthur Guiterman

Arthur Guiterman ( /ˈɡɪtərmən/; November 20, 1871 - January 11, 1943) was an American writer best known for his humorous poems.

Life and career

Guiterman was born of American parents in Vienna, graduated from the College of the City of New York in 1891, and was married in 1909 to Vida Lindo.^[1] He was an editor of the Woman's Home Companion and the Literary Digest. In 1910, he cofounded the Poetry Society of America, and later served as its president in 1925-26.^[2]

An example of his humour is a poem that talks about modern progress, with rhyming couplets such as "First dentistry was painless;/Then bicycles were chainless". It ends on a more telling note:

Another Guiterman poem, "On the Vanity of Earthly Greatness", illustrates the philosophy also incorporated into his humorous rhymes:^[3]

He also notably wrote the libretto for Walter Damrosch's The Man Without a Country which premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City on May 12, 1937.^[4]

Bibliography

Incomplete - to be updated

Books

Beginning in 1907 and continuing for the rest of his life, he was the author of over a dozen collections of poems, including:

• Betel Nuts, What They Say In Hindustan (1907)
• The Laughing Muse (1915)
• The Light Guitar (1923)
• Wildwood Fables (1927)
• Song and Laughter (1929)
• Death and General Putnam and 101 other poems (1935)
• Gaily the Troubadour (1936)
• Lyric Laughter (1939)
• Brave Laughter (1943)

Poems

• "Lyrics from the Pekinese (I-III)". The New Yorker 1 (1): 21. 21 February 1925. 
• "Lyrics from the Pekinese (IV-VI)". The New Yorker 1 (2): 18. 28 February 1925. 
• "Lyrics from the Pekinese (VII-IX)". The New Yorker 1 (3): 21. 7 March 1925. 
• "Lyrics from the Pekinese (X-XII)". The New Yorker 1 (4): 20. 14 March 1925. 
• "Lyrics from the Pekinese (XIII-XV)". The New Yorker 1 (5): 17. 21 March 1925. 
• "Lyrics from the Pekinese (XVI-XVIII)". The New Yorker 1 (6): 18. 28 March 1925. 
• "Rendevous". The New Yorker 1 (6): 8. 28 March 1925. 

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Arthur Guiterman

• November 28, 1915, New York Times, Poets' Opportunities Greater than Ever Before; Arthur Guiterman Tells How to Make a Living Out of Verse and Gives a List of Don'ts for Aspiring Poets ;- Advises Writing on Topical Themes