Richard Armour once said that the shortest poem he had ever written and sold for publication was the following"


"Maid's Day Off"

Thurs.
Hers.


Can anyone else cite poems of similar pithiness??

Reflections on the Antiquity of Fleas

Adam
Had'm.
--Ogden Nash

(I hasten to add that pithiness is not one of my traits. Nonetheless, I like this thread. Thanks, CJ.)

Doubt
Keeps help
Out.

by David Hadda

Shufitz, you are always stealing my posts!
Another from Ogden Nash:

Parsley
Is gharsley

Then there's:

If it is to be,
It is up to me.

Not altogether short in of itself but an oddity nonetheless in that the whole thing is comprised of nothing but two-letter words.

Which brings me to a pet peeve I've experienced, I think, twice in my entire lifetime. When someone writes "If it is to be, it's (!!) up to me." I froth at the mouth ever so slightly.

You could extend the two-letteredness of this ditty as:

If it is to be,
It is up to me,
To do it.

but I don't suppose the addition of the three extra words justifies the total screwing up of the meter.

As your heart grows older
Your heart grows warmer
And your feet grow colder.

B. H.

He gladly copes
With those dopes
From Snopes.


(Hey, it could have been worse. "He elopes with popes" rhymes but tends to run a little short on sense.)

She mopes
About the dopes
On Snopes!

She broods
And feuds
With Snopes's dudes.

quote:

---

Originally posted by C J Strolin:
(Hey, it could have been worse. "He elopes with popes" rhymes )

---

I recall reading that when a group of literati had a friendly competition to see who could devise the most sensational newpaper-headline, Dorothy Parker won with the entry "POPE ELOPES!"

Hunters!
If you love hurting,
Don't bother the animals
Who don't :
Go hunt
Each other!

I found this on a pithy poems site.

Kalleh, if we may be that lengthy we include one of my favorites.

A man said to the universe: "Sir I exist!"
"However," replied the universe,
"The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation."
-- Stephen Crane

My dear, Hic, we may be as lengthy as we wish. At least I don't think Big Brother watching!

That is great!

Thanks, Kalleh. Duly encouraged, I'll toss is some Ogden Nash:

Reflections on a Wicked World
Purity
Is obscurity.

Further Reflections on Parsley
Parsley
Is gharsley.

Candy is dandy
But liquor is quicker

On the subject of Ogden Nash, when I was a student living in halls, I had an attributed quote from Nash taped to my room door.

Come election time for the student union, I get a visit from one of the candidates, canvassing for support. The gentleman in question was editor of the student newspaper. I opened my door to be greeted by

"Mr Ogden Nash, I presume?"

"No" says I

"Miss Ogden Nash?"

"No. He's an American poet, and you won't be getting my vote"