Recommendations for Comedic Poems, Lyric, Ballad, etc.

[gruntingslime]

Anyone have suggestions for comedic pieces which could be best read aloud or performed either in private or among friends.

Something like a ballad or a lyrical fable would be great, particularly if it was easy to memorize. I'm interested in getting familiar with some poetic devices, rhyming schemes and creative uses of alliteration.

Some works I've enjoyed are The Hunting of the Snark, The Raven, works by Robert Frost, works of Byron.

I'm particularly looking for lyrical and comedic works.

Grotesque and Foolery are favorite subjects.

[OrphanPip]

Depending on the audience, the Earl of Rochester wrote some pretty funny little ballads and songs, but they can be quite vulgar even by contemporary standards.

Swift wrote some fun ones too like "The Lady's Dressing Room."

Pope's Rape of the Lock, a mock epic, is probably the most important comedic poem in the English language, and Pope was a master of poetic technique, no one wrote better rhyming couplets.

In more modern terms, Dorothy Parker was famous for her short witty poems.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Certainly Goldsmith fits the bill. Examples include:
An Ellegy on That Glory of Her Sex Mrs. Mary Blaize,
Description of An Authors Bedchamber
Ellegy on the Death of A Mad Dog

Perhaps Oscar Wilde, Chaucer.

Lokasenna brought William Topaz McGonagall to our attention. See his thread nearby under Poems, Poets and Poetry.

Shel Sylverstein’s adult poems and lyrics several of which have been popularized by such acts as Johnny Cash- A Boy Named Sue or
Dr. Hook-Cover of the Rolling Stone and I Got Stoned and I Missed It

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-hYLL7Gpos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xI0t...eature=related

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[gruntingslime]

These are some great recommendations, thanks. They've helped me a lot.