A Nonsense Anthology

Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.6

Word count: 270K words
Chapters: 28

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.A Nonsense Anthology by Carolyn WellsAuthor: ,Language: English, Class: PN: Language and Literatures: Literature: General, Criticism, Collections, Release Date: Nov 1, 2005

Editor's review

This is a nonsense-verse anthology edited by Carolyn Wells and released as an e-book by Project Gutenberg, classified under Language and Literatures: General and collections. Its core value lies in gathering in one place examples of "nonsense" as a distinct genre in English literature: marked by absurd logic, wordplay, puns, and perverse imagination, it reads lightly yet often carries verbal wit. The anthology format lets readers survey at once how many authors handle the mode, and it suits use as supplementary material in teaching English poetry, for discussing meter, puns, and humor. For translation enthusiasts, such texts are an intriguing test of language-transfer skills. A caveat: "nonsense" is not meaningless babble; its humor often depends on English sound and allusion, so non-native readers may miss some of the jokes; and an anthology reflects the editor's taste, with uneven quality and style across selections. The e-book suits fragmented reading but does not replace systematic reading in literary history.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers who enjoy English humorous poetry and wordplay
Teachers needing entertaining examples for teaching English poetry
Literature enthusiasts studying the English "nonsense" genre
Translation learners practicing language transfer with attention to puns and meter

Not a good fit for

Beginner readers with weak English who rely on line-by-line translations
Readers expecting serious lyric poetry or profound themes
Readers needing detailed notes explaining allusions and puns

Reading tips

Read a few poems aloud first to feel the fun of rhythm and sound, then go back to the text.
Read by author groups and compare how different authors create absurdity.
Mark puns or allusions and look them up together rather than breaking the reading flow.
Try orally translating one or two poems to test whether you can preserve the humor.

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

Does "nonsense" poetry mean poetry without meaning?

No. Such poems often create humor through absurd situations, perverse logic, and wordplay; they seem unreasonable but have inner rules and verbal ingenuity, and the pleasure comes from upsetting ordinary expectations.

Which authors' works are included in this anthology?

The information only states that it was edited by Carolyn Wells and does not list specific authors. Readers can check the actual contents and authors in the e-book's table of contents; one should not assume a particular poet is included.

Can non-native readers understand the humor?

Partly. Pieces relying on rhythm and absurd situations are easier to grasp, while jokes depending on English sound, idioms, or allusions may require lookup. Read with reference tools and don't insist on catching everything.

Is this book suitable for children?

The information does not specify an age level. The absurd humor may appeal to some young readers, but the allusions and wordplay require some English foundation; parents should judge suitability based on the child's language level.

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

Project Gutenberg Author

Project Gutenberg is not a single author but a nonprofit digital library founded by Michael Hart in 1971 and one of the world's earliest free ebook platforms. It relies on volunteers to digitize, proofread, and freely distribute public-domain works and is now operated by the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Its collection contains 2,692 works, mainly religious texts, epics, and story collections, including the King James Bible and the Douay-Rheims volumes, the epic Mahabharata, a literal translation of the Arabian Nights, and Danish editions of the Old and New Testaments. Public information is limited, and its nature is closer to a public-interest compiling and dissemination body; these texts are open to the public, easy to consult and circulate, and have had a profound influence on the spread of ebooks and the preservation of public-domain resources.