Subscribe: by Email | in Reader

PG Wooster, Just as he Useter -- Ogden Nash

Guest poem sent in by Suresh Ramasubramanian
(Poem #353) PG Wooster, Just as he Useter
  Bound to your bookseller, leap to your library,
  Deluge your dealer with bakshish and bribary,
  Lean on the counter and never say when,
  Wodehouse and Wooster are with us again.

  Flourish the fish-slice, your buttons unloosing,
  Prepare for the fabulous browsing and sluicing,
  And quote, til you're known as the neighborhood nuisance,
  The gems that illumine the browsance and sluicance.

  Oh, fondle each gem, and after you quote it,
  Kindly inform me just who wrote it.

  Which came first, the egg or the rooster?
  P.G.Wodehouse or Bertram Wooster?
  I know hawk from handsaw, and Finn from Fiji,
  But I can't disentangle Bertram from PG.

  I inquire in the school room, I ask in the road house,
  Did Wodehouse write Wooster, or Wooster Wodehouse?
  Bertram Wodehouse and PG Wooster,
  They are linked in my mind like Simon and Schuster.

  No matter which fumbled in '41,
  Or which the woebegone figure of fun.
  I deduce how the faux pas came about,
  It was clearly Jeeves's afternoon out.

  Now Jeeves is back, and my cheeks are crumply
  From watching him glide through Steeple Bumpleigh.
-- Ogden Nash
  NY Herald Tribune 22 May 1946, p 2 (Ogden Nash's book review of
  Joy in the Morning).

  --- review ---

This is a real "Golden trashery of Ogden Nashery" - <Nash's
description of one of his anthologies>.  Nash writes with the
authority of a long time fan of Wodehouse - and one with a sense of
humor best qualified to appreciate Plum's jokes.

Note the use of classic PGW phrases - "browsing and sluicing" for
example.  Also the fact that PGW loves to use obscure quotes from
"The Poet Keats" and the Bible to Gilbert and Sullivan operas in the
most ludicrous context possible.

The last stanza points out that Wodehouse still remains popular,
despite the blasting he received in William "Cassandra" Connor for
his "pro Nazi broadcasts" in 1941.

By the way - PGW became rather a close pal of Connor after this
(even saving his bacon when Evelyn Waugh wanted to roast him in
his famous BBC broadcast in praise of Plum).

Suresh Ramasubramanian | CAUCE India | www.cauce.org|

17 comments: ( or Leave a comment )

swiss replica watches said...

Only a few a long time later on we were holding performing their part from the Fantastic Conflict by simply giving the 'Soldier's Watch' which has been made with the barbq grill to shield the facial skin but still retained the truth Movado view style. Even though there is also a war on i am not saying you can not look nice! Later on within 1927 they developed a self-winding bank account watch that employed a Breitling Replica Watches forward thinking system in order to wind flow this each time it absolutely was slid interior and exterior its situation. In 1947 Nathan George Horwitt appeared being engaged being a artist and also created the very replica U-Boat watches first Public Enjoy (since it is currently recognize! )#). It was based on the style replica watches UK notion of a sundial, with it is signature plain dial as well Replica Breitling watches as fake Zenith watches UK one silver dept of transportation sign from a dozen o'clock.

unsgu said...

memang website yang minimalist home design keren memang harus begini,selalu home design and decorating ideas mengedepankan kepuasan dan specifications car and motorcycle banyak memberi manfaat bagi pengunjungnya. price and specifications

unsgu said...

semua yg disajikan bikin saya salut,situs ini penuh dengan informasi dan berita yg alat pembesar penis bermanfaat,semoga dengan sering di update akan menjadikan website ini lebih bermanfaat lagi..thx

unsgu said...

terimakasih, website ini telah review honda cb500 memberikan ilmu pengetahuanspecifications kawasaki z800 yang sangat bermanfaat untuk saya dan yang lain price toyota etios valco

nhgkm said...

Semoga anda selalu sukses, dan terimakah untuk informasi price and spec mazda yang bermanfaatnya sangat membantu

Angel Claudia said...

Attaining high-quality Online Essay Writing Services is achievable at affordable charges while offering other numerous advantages to clients.Our team work tirelessly to deliver Essay Writer Service on time.

Honoria said...

Great post. One correction though. Wodehouse's broadcasts were not "pro Nazi". The broadcasts were a humorous account of his experiences as a prisoner (internee) after Germans captured the French town where he was living before the war. The controversy was because he broadcast on German radio.

Post a Comment