Have You Ever Heard of Ogden Nash?

Ogden Nash (1902-1971) wrote comic poems– here are four of his shortest ones:

A Word to Husbands

To keep your marriage brimming
With love in the loving cup,
Whenever you’re wrong, admit it;
Whenever you’re right, shut up.

The Cow

The cow is of the bovine ilk;
One end is moo, the other, milk

Reflections on Ice-Breaking

Candy
Is dandy,
But liquor
Is quicker

The Fly

The Lord in His wisdom made the fly,
And then forgot to tell us why

I asked ChatGPT what Nash would say about AI:

A.I., Oh My!
(in the style of Ogden Nash)

I asked a bot to write a note,
It answered me with dreams it wrote.
It spelled quite well, its tone was bright,
But something felt not quite all right.

It knew of kings and koalas too,
Of Mars and memes and Manet’s “Rue.”
It told me jokes both dry and snappy,
And made my grumpy uncle happy.

Yet when I asked, “What makes us real?”
It paused — and offered a coupon deal.
It thinks in code and speaks in rhyme,
But doesn’t age or waste its time.

It never sleeps, it doesn’t tire,
It won’t grow old or dream or sire.
It’s brilliant, weird, and oddly kind—
A mirror made of humankind.

So here’s to AI, silicon sage,
The oddest bard of our new age.
But just in case it turns on me,
I’ll compliment it… frequently.

This entry was posted in Life As a Shared Adventure. Bookmark the permalink.

27 Responses to Have You Ever Heard of Ogden Nash?

  1. Ann Thompson says:

    I don’t recall hearing that name before but I have heard a couple of those poems. AI’s came up with a clever poem.

  2. tomthebackroadstraveller says:

    …thanks for “The Golden Trash of Ogden Nash!”

  3. Kaitlin E Browman says:

    That is hilarious. “…It’s brilliant, weird, and oddly kind—” and “…But just in case it turns on me, I’ll compliment it… frequently.” are my favorites.

  4. Yes, I am familiar with Ogden Nash! AI did a good job.

  5. I have heard of him – I don’t remember when or where though.

  6. Shug says:

    I am not familiar with Ogden Nash….but it appears that his work is very playful.

  7. Ginny Hartzler says:

    I like the last paragraph of ChatGPT. I think my favorite of these Nash quotes is the one about the fly! Yes, I have heard of him. Super witty!

  8. I’ve been having so much fun playing with AI — thanks to you, my next post is about that.

  9. Bruce Taylor says:

    Ogden Nash has always been a favorite of mine.

  10. As usual, I prefer the real Ogden Nash–lol! 😉

  11. Christine says:

    Interesting thoughts AI!

  12. Myra says:

    AI, aka silicon sage, did great! It’s growing on me!

  13. David Beach says:

    Always loved him and it wasnt that long ago that I was searching bookstores for a compilation. Genius, funny, clever. Thank you for mentioning him…

Comments are closed.