Ruthless
Rhyme
Ruthless rhymes were
created by Harry Graham. If you haven't met them before, and enjoy things that
are deplorably funny but not in the best possible taste, do please seek out his
work. (My favourite is the one about little Leonie.) It's not that easy to
write a poem about death that's funny without being offensive. How about this
one:
Out in the Wash
When spouse and clothes got in a
tangle
They went together through the mangle.
The faithless rat I did not grieve -
Still flatter, but can't now deceive.
They went together through the mangle.
The faithless rat I did not grieve -
Still flatter, but can't now deceive.
Ruthless
rhymes are always written in rhyming couplets - usually two of them, but
occasionally more.
Pasted
from <http://volecentral.co.uk/vf/fun.htm#Ruthless%20Rhyme>
Thanks to Bob Newman
for his wonderful Volecentral resource site.
The link below will
lead you to a fine selection of poems by
By Jocelyn Henry Clive 'Harry' Graham who just became on of my favorite poets.
Here are a couple of
examples of his work.
Necessity
LATE last night I
slew my wife,
Stretched her on the
parquet flooring;
I was loath to take
her life,
But I had to stop
her snoring.
The Perils of
Obesity
YESTERDAY my gun
exploded
When I thought it
wasn't loaded;
Near my wife I
pressed the trigger,
Chipped a fragment
off her figure;
'Course I'm sorry,
and all that,
But she shouldn't be
so fat.
My example poem
Laundry Mix ( Example of Ruthless Rhyme)
Into the wash I
threw the cat
and Mom said I ought
not do that.
But still a load of
underwear
feels nice when
coated with cat hair.
© Lawrencealot -
April 11, 2024
