Ogden Nash

"Candy is dandy,

But Liquor Is Quicker."

Ogden Nash (1902-1971) was one of the great writers of American humorous poetry, noted for couplets or other poems that rhyme, but the lines are of different length and irregular meter. He lived in Baltimore most of his life, and included several paeans to it in his work. Also noted are his series of poems set to Camille Saint-Saens' "Carnival Of The Animals".

He was also verified by the Guinness Book Of World Records as having composed the shortest published poem: On the Antiquity of Fleas, which consists of the single line "Adam had 'em."

Tropes in Ogden Nash's work:
"Presses lips and tosses head,
 * Analogy Backfire: The poem The Romantic Age, about a lovestruck teenage girl who:

Declares she's not too young to wed.

Informs you pertly you forget

Romeo and Juliet.

Do not argue, do not shout;

Remind her how that one turned out."

"We might love the people upstairs wonderous
 * But Liquor Is Quicker: "Reflections on Ice-Breaking" is the Trope Namer.
 * Ceiling Banger:

If, instead of above us, they lived just underus."

"There are no rhymes for orange or silver,
 * Least Rhymable Word:

Unless liberties you pilfer."

"More than a catbird hates a cat,
 * Little Did I Know: Don't Guess, Let Me Tell You.
 * Missing Floor: A Tale of the Thirteenth Floor.
 * Painful Rhyme: Though done deliberately, and often lampshaded by changes in the spelling.
 * Romantic Hyperbole:

Or a criminal hates a clue,

Or the Axis hates the United States,

That's how much I love you...."

"The Self-Effacement of Electra Thorne:
 * Spotlight Stealing Title:

As for egocentricity, good heavens!

What's egocentric about wanting the marquee to read

ELECTRA THORNE

IN

OPHELIA AND HAMLET

WITH

MAURICE EVANS

?"

"Some singers sing of ladies' eyes
 * Stuffy Old Songs About the Buttocks: The Clean Platter

And some of ladies' lips,

Refined ones praise their ladylike ways,

And coarse ones hymn their hips."

"Some primal termite knocked on wood
 * Termite Trouble/Floorboard Failure: The Termite

Tasted it, and found it good

And that is why your Cousin May

Fell through the parlor floor today."

"The Wendigo, the Wendigo
 * The So Called Coward: Custard the Dragon is about a woman named Belinda who lived with a kitten, a mouse, a dog, and a dragon. Counter-intuitively, the kitten, mouse, and dog were all described as being very brave, while the dragon was a coward. However, when a pirate broke into the house and threatened Belinda, the three supposedly 'brave' animals ran and hid, and Custard stood his ground, fought the pirate, and ate him.
 * The Thing That Would Not Leave: Polterguest, My Polterguest.
 * Wendigo:

I saw it just a friend ago

Last night it lurked in Canada

Tonight on your veranda!"