Rippling Rhymes

Mason, Walt, 1862-1939Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 130K words
Chapters: 14

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Rippling Rhymes by Walt MasonAuthor: Mason, Walt, 1862-1939,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Sep 21, 2007

Editor's review

This poetry collection comes from the American journalist and humorous poet Walter Mason, known for its light rhyme and colloquial rhythm, a typical specimen of early twentieth-century newspaper verse. The poems mostly draw on everyday life and ordinary human relations, with a humorous rather than biting tone, deftly using short lines and regular rhymes to create an easy, catchy reading experience. For Chinese readers its value lies not in profound literary technique but in offering a window onto the tradition of popular newspaper verse in America, and it also serves as light material for practicing English poetic rhythm and rhyme. Read it as a book to open at any time, read a poem or two and put down, a few pages on the commute or before sleep, to feel the particular warmth and wit of old newspaper poetry. Note that the work carries marked period language habits, with some expressions distant from present-day English; reading with notes or an introduction is advised.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers of English verse and the newspaper poetry tradition
Learners who want light English poems for reading aloud and rhythm practice
Casual readers who enjoy humorous, short, slice-of-life poetry
Beginners studying early twentieth-century American popular literature

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting deep symbolism or modernist poetry
Beginners with weak English who need line-by-line translation support
Readers who prefer long narrative poems or rigorous poetic theory

Reading tips

Read three to five poems per session, aloud, to feel the rhymes and rhythm.
Mark period expressions first; look them up after finishing the whole poem.
Copy out favorite short lines by theme to build a feel for English verse.
Read alongside newspaper poems of the same era to note shared features of popular verse.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book good for practicing English reading aloud?

Fairly good. Mason's lines are short, the rhymes obvious, and the spoken feel strong, so the rhythm is easy to grasp when reading aloud. Read silently first for general meaning, then aloud, watching the stress and rhyme position in each line; don't rush.

Can I read it without knowing English poetry terms?

Yes. The book doesn't rely on complex terms; the focus is rhyme and everyday tone. Just notice end rhymes and line length for basic reading pleasure; if you want more, add some basics of rhyme and meter.

Why do some expressions read unnaturally?

The works date from the early twentieth century, so language habits, slang, and newspaper usage differ from contemporary English. This is a period feature, not a textual error. Where puzzling, infer from context or check older senses; don't force word-for-word correspondence.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Mason, Walt, 1862-1939 Author · American · 1862–1939

Walt Mason (1862–1939) was an American poet, humorist, and newspaper columnist, known for his dialect verse. He drew rhythm from everyday speech and local turns of phrase, writing the joys and sorrows of ordinary people in an easy, recitable style. His work carries a clear newspaper-column flavor and often a gentle philosophical touch. Two of his works are included here, Rippling Rhymes and Uncle Walt, the Poet Philosopher; the titles alone suggest his light, flowing verse and his humorous pose as a “poet philosopher.” Public information on the details of his life is limited, and existing accounts focus mainly on his poetry and newspaper writing. He is remembered chiefly for his catchy, reader-friendly dialect rhymes, which earned him a place in the popular verse of his time.