Verse and Worse

Harry GrahamProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.4

Word count: 119K words
Chapters: 12

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.Verse and Worse by Harry GrahamAuthor: Graham, Harry, 1874-1936,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jul 11, 2011

Editor's review

Verse and Worse is a collection of humorous verse by Harry Graham, a comic work in the English light verse tradition. The title itself sets the tone: neat rhyme and meter applied to absurd, exaggerated, and sometimes slightly dark subjects, with a brisk rhythm and a twist often saved for the ending. Its value lies in showing how English verse can use meter to create humor; it is a good sample for understanding early twentieth-century English comic poetry and is also suited to dipping into in spare moments. As a public-domain electronic text, readers can pick and choose without reading in order. Note that some humor bears the marks of its time and may not all land with today's readers; it is also light verse, so one should not expect profound thought. It is best treated as a book of verbal fun rather than a key text in literary history.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy English humorous short poems and comic verse, for light entertainment
English learners who want to feel rhythm and language through rhymed short poems
Literature lovers interested in the early twentieth-century English light verse tradition
Readers who need short pieces for reading aloud, usable in gatherings or classroom segments

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting serious poetry or profound themes; the book is mainly comic entertainment
Readers who need a Chinese translation; the original is a public-domain English electronic text
Readers uninterested in old-style humor and period references; some content may feel remote

Reading tips

There is no need to read straight through; flip to short poems at random and read a few at a time to keep it light
Read aloud to feel the rhymes and rhythm; it is easier to catch the humor than by silent reading
Skip allusions whose period background is unclear; enjoy the verbal fun first and look them up later
Copy out or memorize favorite short poems as material for practicing English rhythm

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

Are the poems in this book suitable for children?

Some verse in the book contains dark humor or adult-oriented irony and was not written specifically for children. If reading with children, it is best to select the pieces yourself first, avoiding content that jokes about injury, death, and similar matters, and then decide whether to share them.

Does reading this book require a very good level of English?

The short poems are brief and clearly rhymed, so readers with intermediate English reading ability can try them. The main difficulties are old-fashioned expressions and period allusions; skipping unclear passages does not prevent enjoying the rhythm and humor, and a dictionary tool will make it smoother.

How is it different from an ordinary poetry collection?

It belongs to light comic verse; its focus is not lyricism or depth of thought but the fun of meter, exaggerated situations, and the humor of ending twists. The expectation should lean toward entertainment and verbal fun rather than the immersive experience of serious literature.

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

Harry Graham Author · English · 1874–1936

Harry Graham (1874–1936) was a British journalist, humorous poet and lyricist, born on 23 December 1874 and died in London on 30 October 1936. Educated at Eton and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, he served early on as an officer in the Coldstream Guards and later became known by the pen name "Colonel D. Streamer." Graham made his name with collections of darkly comic verse, including Ruthless Rhymes for Heartless Homes and Perverted Proverbs, works that often subvert moral lessons and everyday common sense in playful rhyme laced with cool irony. He also wrote lyrics for several musical comedies, showing a versatile way with words. The library holds 10 of his works, commonly classified under inspirational growth, though his writing is closer to British comic and satirical verse. Public information is limited.