Analysis of The Terrible People

Ogden Nash 1902 (Rye, New York) – 1971 (Baltimore)



People who have what they want are very fond of telling people who haven't what they want that they really don't want it,
And I wish I could afford to gather all such people into a gloomy castle on the Danube and hire half a dozen capable Draculas to haunt it.
I dont' mind their having a lot of money, and I don't care how they employ it,
But I do think that they damn well ought to admit they enjoy it.
But no, they insist on being stealthy
About the pleasures of being wealthy,
And the possession of a handsome annuity
Makes them think that to say how hard it is to make both ends meet is their bounden duity.
You cannot conceive of an occasion
Which will find them without some suitable evasion.
Yes indeed, with argumetsn they are very fecund;
Their first point is that money isn't everything, and that they have no money anyhow is their second.
Some people's money is merited,
And other people's is inherited,
But wherever it comes from,
They talk about it as if it were something you got pink gums from.
Perhaps indeed the possession of wealth is constantly distressing,
But I should be quite willing to assume every curse of wealth if I could at the same time assume every blessing.
The only incurable troubles of the rich are the troubles that money can't cure,
Which is a kind of trouble that is even more troublesome if you are poor.
Certainly there are lots of things in life that money won't buy, but it's very funny -
Have you ever tried to buy them without money?


Scheme AAAABBBACCADEEFFGGHIBB
Poetic Form
Metre 10111111101110101101111110111 011110111011100101010101001010101001111 11111001110011111011 1111111111011011 1110111010 0101011010 0001010100100 1111111111111111111 1100111010 1111011100010 1011111101 111111010100111110101110 110101100 0101010100 1010111 1101111101011111 01010010111100010 111111010110011111110110110010 010010010101101011011 1101110111011001111 100111110111011111010 111011110110
Characters 1,478
Words 293
Sentences 9
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 22
Lines Amount 22
Letters per line (avg) 53
Words per line (avg) 13
Letters per stanza (avg) 1,169
Words per stanza (avg) 276
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Submitted by davidb on November 10, 2021

Modified on April 17, 2023

1:30 min read
154

Ogden Nash

Ogden Nash (1902-1971) was, during his lifetime, the most well-known American writer of light verse, and his popularity has continued after his death. His witty style has been imitated by many, but none have quite equalled the old master. more…

All Ogden Nash poems | Ogden Nash Books

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