Light poetry

light verse, the general term for various kinds of verse that have no serious purpose and no solemnity of tone. They may deal with trivial subjects, or bring a light‐hearted attitude to more serious ones. Light verse is often characterized by a display of technical accomplishment in the handling of difficult rhymes, metres, and stanza forms. The many forms of light verse include Anacreontics, clerihews, epigrams, jingles, limericks, mock epics, nonsense verse, parodies, and vers de société.

A loose catch-all term describing poetry written with a relaxed attitude and ordinary tone on trivial, mundane, or frivolous themes. It is intended to amuse and entertain and is frequently distinguished by sophistication, wit, word-play, elegance, and technical competence. Among the numerous forms of light verse are clerihews, double dactyls, epigrams, limericks, nonsense poetry, occasional poetry, parodies, society verse, and verse with puns or riddles.

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 wordplay, including puns, adventurous rhyme and heavy alliteration. Typically, light verse in English is formal verse, although a few free verse poets, such as Billy Collins, have excelled at light verse outside the formal verse tradition.

While light poetry is sometimes condemned as doggerel, 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.

Famous English poets

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

• Hilaire Belloc
• Lord Byron
• Brian P. Cleary
• Wendy Cope
• Henry Austin Dobson
• T. S. Eliot (Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats)
• Willard R. Espy
• W. S. Gilbert
• Thomas Hood
• Ben Jonson
• Edward Lear
• Ogden Nash
• Dorothy Parker
• Alexander Pope
• Shel Silverstein
• Jonathan Swift
• John Whitworth
• Tim Key

See also

• Clerihew
• Double dactyl
• Epigram
• Limerick
• McWhirtle
• Nonsense verse
• Michael Braude Award for Light Verse

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.

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