Rob Sterling

What happened to Ogden Nash?

Feb 4, 2006 in Ejecta by Sterling | 1 Comment

Last night I went to Barnes & Noble looking for a book of poems to buy for the son of a friend. Some of my fonder literary recollections from childhood are verses of Ogden Nash, so I figured that was a promising route. I went to the poetry section, but no Nash was to be found. Then I strolled over to the humor section and ditto. So I went to the Customer Service counter and asked if the store had any of his books in stock. The girl said she'd never heard of him, and I said, "Well, you know some of rhymes, I'm sure," and then delivered one:

A panther is like a leopard except it hasn't been peppered should you behold a panther crouch prepare to say ouch better yet, if called by a panther don't anther.

She checked the computer and nothing was in stock. I finally did find six or seven of his rhymes in a compilation book for kids, which I purchased. But the whole thing left me dissatisfied. There was, for instance, a book called "Poems of Emily Dickinson for Children". Excuse me? Why not just bring in Sylvia Plath while we're at it, or teach Ethan Frome to kindergarteners? Nash was best known for silly verses but was well thought of by the literary community during his lifetime. His work has aged well and is very readable - I can't imagine why he isn't more popular today than seems to be.

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Tagged Ogden Nash