Great thread, Keiva! We should always give humor its due! And Frost, himself, was not shy of humor by the way. One of my favorite passages of his, which I often quote, is a stanza from
Two Tramps in Mud Time. And in recordings of his readings I've heard he always milks this for a laugh, and gets one too!
TWO TRAMPS IN MUD TIME3rd stanzaThe sun was warm but the wind was chill,
You know how it is with an April day
When the sun is out and the wind is still,
You're one month on in the middle of May.
But if you so much as dare to speak,
A cloud comes over the sunlit arch,
A wind comes off of a frozen peak,
And you're two months back in the middle of March.
And now some other tidbits:
UNFORTUNATE COINCIDENCEby Dorothy Parker
By the time you swear you're his,
Shivering and sighing,
And he vows his passion is
Infinite, undying--
Lady, make a note of this:
One of you is lying.
©1932
The New YorkerOn an even lighter vein:
THE PURPLE COW
I never saw a Purple Cow;
I never Hope to See One;
But I can Tell you, Anyhow,
I'd rather See than Be One.
AH, YES, I WROTE THE "PURPLE COW'
Ah, yes, I wrote the "Purple Cow" --
I'm sorry, now, I Wrote it!
But I can Tell you, Anyhow,
I'll Kill you if you Quote it!
both by Gelette BurgessAnd could this be a transcription of some of our discussions on the board lately?
EletelephonyOnce there was an elephant,
Who tried to use the telephant--
No! No! I mean an elephone
Who tried to use the telephone--
(Dear me! I am not certain quite
That even now I've got it right.)
Howe'er it was, he got his trunk
Entangled in the telephunk;
The more he tried to get it free,
The louder buzzed the telephee--
(I fear I'd better drop the song
Of elephop and telephong!)
by Laura E. Richards
© 1936 by Laura E. Richards
And, of course, Lewis Carrolls'
Jabberwocky; Twinkle, Twinkle Little Bat; and
Father William, among others. So well known to us that I don't think we need to take up thread space for them.
