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How to Write Humorous Poetry

Not only can poetry be fun, it can be funny.

You can create humor out of small and difficult everyday incidents. To paraphrase the wise Greek (Aristotle), humor is a triumph over the annoying. The American author Langston Hughes (1902-1967), who used writing to overcome the vicissitudes of racism, incorporated the street slang of Harlem into some of his poems and turned that so-called illiterate speech into a kind of soulful music. In his very short poem "Bad Morning" ("Here I sit/With my shoes mismated./Lawdy mercy!/I's frustrated!") he invites us to laugh at the speaker's own awareness of his foolish dilemma.

How can you make your poetry humorous and tickle a chortle or two out of your readers? It all depends on what you yourself find funny. What's your favorite blend of laughing gas?

I am particularly fond of nonsense poetry and parodies, but humorous poems can take other forms as well. They can be a response to an existing poem, they can be tongue twisters, the can be outrageous limericks, or they can use subtle irony to make a serious point as in Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 where he spoofs the conventional expectations of the sonnet form itself. "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun," he writes, "And in some perfumes is there more delight/Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks." Funny and honest, yes, but admittedly not the best way to win your lady's favor. More likely to gain a chuckle - or a slap in the face.

Another Englishman, Edward Lear (1812-1888), wanting to poke fun at courtship rituals, wrote ten stanzas of 11 lines each with each stanza repeating the name of the poor slob rejected by the heartless fair maid who would rather live alone and forlorn on her rocky shore. At the end of "The Courtship of the Yonghy-Bonghy-B" Yonghy-Bonghy rides off into the sunset on a giant turtle, never to return. Sadly, he was not as successful as the two characters in Lear's most famous work, "The Owl and the Pussycat." This oddly-matched pair are joined together in nuptial bliss by the turkey who lives on the hill, "and danced by the light of the moon" to celebrate. Which proves that not only do opposites attract, but they can learn to boogey to the same beat.

But enough about nonsense. Let's take a look at something far more serious: the parody. A wag once said that parodies are the product of a dull mind. I disagree. Not only can they be very inventive, they can also be very funny. It all depends on your cup of java. Consider

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