Nashers: Poetic Forms
Poetic Form Fridays are made to share various poetic forms. This week, we look at nashers, which is a light verse form invented by Ogden Nash.
This week's poetic form is a fun one that I found hidden in my copy of The Poetry Dictionary, by John Drury. Nashers, named after Ogden Nash, are couplets (of any length) that feature comical rhymes, including wrenched rhymes. The popular wrenched rhyme example (also mentioned in Edward Hirsch's A Poet's Glossary) is from Nash's poem "Kindly Unhitch That Star, Buddy," in which he rhymes "rhinestones" with "ghrinestones."
At its core, the nasher is a light verse form. So have fun playing around with this one.
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Play with poetic forms!
Poetic forms are fun poetic games, and this digital guide collects more than 100 poetic forms, including more established poetic forms (like sestinas and sonnets) and newer invented forms (like golden shovels and fibs).
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Here’s my attempt at a nasher:
Keep Walking?, by Robert Lee Brewer
I walked alone deliberately in solitary liberty
as if no more civility could force a case of mirthity,
but then a black cat crossed my path sans any consideration
for superstitious natures or internal deliberations.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
