Notables Not Unpleasant to Know: Letters E and F

In his nonsense verse “How pleasant to know Mr. Lear” the popularizer of the limerick makes amusing observations about himself. In the octaves below readers are urged to discover equally intriguing characters who, it’s hoped, will prove just as amusing and, in the end, just as “not unpleasant to know.”


Not unpleasant to know? Mr. Eliot,*
for whose love songs folk failed to make beelines 
(“Prufrock” pruvin' confrusin' [sic]) till he at-
tempts his yack about practical felines.
After Cats – notwithstanding Tom's smelly at-
tire (he'd died) -- all applauded the work
of the pleasant-to-know Mr. Eliot --
though he'd driven his missus berserk.

     * T. S. Eliot (1888-1965)

Also pleasant to know: Mr. Eggers,*

sired by Lasiocampidae-Moth**
out of Cancer-Ward-Victim*** (poor beggars!)
Less had wrought any lesser man wroth.
Megan Abbott’s, “Dave’s stoic…” shows Meg**** errs:
There's much angst in A Heartbreaking Work…
and in pleasant-to-know Mr. Eggers.
(That's no smile: just Dave’s strife-induced smirk.)

     * Dave Eggers (1970-    )

     ** The Lasiocampidae are a family of moths also known as eggars.

     *** Both Dave's parents suffered cancer-related deaths.

     **** Author, journalist and blogger Megan Abbott

Not unpleasant to know? Mr. Fford,*

he who authored The Well of Lost Plots.**
Does the name 'Thursday Next'*** strike no chord?
For this heroine, who’s got no hots? 
Though Fforde now plays with sorc'ry and sword,
It’s his Thursday I like. How much? Lots!
Her and pleasant-to-know Mr. Fforde:
The pair ties me in "Ffordean" knots.

     * Jasper Fford 

     ** One of his most popular novels 

     *** The protagonist in Well and other novels

Also pleasant to know's Flann (O'Brien).*

His At Swim-Two-Birds Ms. Filipova**
translates (unless my Google be lyin')
as "Plavashtite Chavki." [Jee--hovah!!]
Dare one hope folks don't feel one's a fly in
storied oint when we point to the tipple
as what silenced once-pleasant O'Brien?
That...and cancer...and Dublin: banes triple!

     * One pseudonym of Brian O'Nolan

     ** Filipina Filipova is a Bulgarian-to-English translator

Not unpleasant to know? David Frishberg!

Though Dave's spinet piano sounds dandy,
David finds himself making this wish: "Erg-
onomicly plann'd ones: more handy?
If I play'd one, those sizeable fissures G-
od forbodes in my modes operandi
I’d avoid. Sigmund Freud!” raves Dave Frishberg.
(My advice? Buy a nice concert grand, D!)

Notables Not Unpleasant to Know: Letter D

In his nonsense verse “How pleasant to know Mr. Lear” the popularizer of the limerick makes amusing observations about himself. In the octaves below readers are urged to discover equally intriguing characters who, it’s hoped, will prove just as amusing and, in the end, just as “not unpleasant to know.”

Not unpleasant to know? Mr. Dahl,*
he whose tale of an oversized peach**
caused a Communist Party cabal
to blue pencil Dahl's treasonous speech.***
Roald rolled on, regardless. Pas mal!
Red "librarians" err in their reach
and their roast of the most-pleasant Dahl.
(Some don't learn: thank God other folks teach.)

     * Roald Dahl (1916-1990) 

     ** James and the Giant Peach 

     *** The Chinese Communist Party banned

Dahl’s book along with Winnie the Pooh and 

other children’s books.

Also pleasant to know: Mr. Dowd.*

Though Dowd drinks (aren't martinis allowed?),
Dowd resolves to avoid getting plowed.
(How's the Anti-Saloon League not proud?)

Elwood's pooka pal Harvey's endowed

with twin shell-likes admired by the crowd --
pals of pleasant-to-know Elwood Dowd.
(How that pair non-believers has "wow"'d!)

     

Chase** affirms he's determined -- is Dowd --
ne'er by social decree to be cowed.
(I myself more than once have heard Dowd
query patrons at Charley’s*** out loud:

"How's humanity thrive 'neath such cloud?"

Thus, to live and let live Dowd’s avowed.
Though deceased, still unbowed’s Mr. Dowd
C’est la vie! Here we D now enshroud.

     * Elwood P. Dowd (c1905- c2005) 

     ** Playwright Mary Chase wrote Harvey, 

in which Dowd is a main character.
*** One of Dowd and Harvey's favored
watering holes.

Not unpleasant to know? Mr. Drake,*

he whose "mairzy doats." (As do his "doze.")
Oh, his "kiddle, too" -- make no mistake!
(Milt's penned plenty preposterous prose!)
Single songs complete oeuvres don't make.
Still, his singular lyric's a doozy --
as is pleasant-to-know Mr. Drake.
Once you've met, you'll regret Googling "Who's he?"

     * Milton Drake (1912-2006)

Also pleasant to know: Rev'd Dodgson,*

canny crafter of cultured** canards --
e.g., Alice through Wonderland plods, un-
in-the-know she's de trop by some cards.
On our nonsense Olympus, Chuck's God's son --
and in "Hunting the Snark" are found pearls --
placed by pleasant-to-know Rev'd Dodgson
(for whose pics posed pre-puberal girls).

     * C. L. Dodgson aka Lewis Carroll.
Contrary to rumor, C. L. does not stand for
Camera Lucida, nor have allegations of
inappropriate behavior on the Rev’s part
ever been proven.

     ** Close readings will note how the
alliterative 'cultured' in this line anticipates
the similarly alliterative 'pearls placed' in
the final lines.

Not unpleasant to know: Mr. Dylan,* 

who, like Jack, climbs an anti-war hill in

which the nurs'ry-rhyme rants Joan** plays Jill in

back their protests 'gainst government killin.' 

Folks adored 'em -- two flower-choked chillen.

Now we choke: "Were you folkies jus' shillin'?

Did your, pleasant-to-know Mr. Dylan,

flesh prove weak, though your spirit waxed willin'?"

     * Bob Dylan (aka Tom Zimmerman: 1941-   )

     ** Folksinger Joan Baez

Notables Not Unpleasant to Know: Letter C

In his nonsense verse “How pleasant to know Mr. Lear” the popularizer of the limerick makes amusing observations about himself. In the octaves below readers are urged to discover equally intriguing characters who, it’s hoped, will prove just as amusing and, in the end, just as “not unpleasant to know.”

Not unpleasant to know? Mr. Bentley.*
who's gained fame as the clerihew guru.
(Ed invented 'em, too, incidently.)
E. C.'s also the entrepreneur who
penned the tome Trent's Last Case -- did it gently.
Folks who credit Ed's life just a blur rue
ev'ry day they neglect Mr. Bentley,
never hollering "Clerihew! Yoo-hoo!"

     * E. C. (Edmund Clerihew) Bentley (1875-1956)

Also pleasant to know: Mr. Cutler,*

unknown stateside (withal the UK knows
of his apothegms -- most of 'em subtler
than his "Grass doesn't grow on volcanoes.")
Though he's gone, be thou baron or butler,
set aside a small stash of his "Stickies"!**
They’re by pleasant-to-know Mr. Cutler
and sure cures for your blues...and your hickeys.

     * Ivor Cutler (1923-2006)  

     ** Befriend a Bacterium (Stickies by Ivor Cutler) 

Not unpleasant to know? Y. Clacoxia* --

rhetorician cum chum of Doug Hofstadter,
who, referring to Serm, cracks no jokes; he a-
pplauds her** work ("...it’s as good as a profs'...better!"),
finds her thorough, clear, warm, none too folksy: a
sloe-eyed doe at whom no man would scoff. 'Stead, her
rep rides high, as does Y. Serm Clacoxia,
though it’s we who seek Serm: Doug just offset her.

     * Y. Serm Clocoxia: maven or anagram? You decide. 

     * Y. Serm Clocoxia: male or female? You decide.

Also pleasant to know: A. Codrescu;*

all who do declare, "Pay 'Drei' a visit!
This man's stones gather moss (though no fescue),
while his body (of work!) smells exquisite.
Is your ratio ripe for a rescue?
Does your heart belong (partly) to Dada?
Check out pleasant-to-know A. Codrescu:
He'll help honcho that whole enchalada.

     * Andrei Codrescu (1946-   )

Not unpleasant to know? Mrs. Cavendish;*

up with "Blazing World"** just now I've curled.
There live sundry who sadly don't have a niche:
Meg forged many; the lot she unfurled --
tales of beasties ne'er seen in your petrie dish
tales of worlds not sufficiently "girl'd" ***--
did the pleasant-to-know Mrs. Cavendish.
(Plus, young Meg neither knitted nor perled.).

     * Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673), Duchess 

of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne 

     ** The better-known title of her The Description 

of a New World, Called the Blazing World.

     *** Cavendish treated gender and power in some 

of her work and might be considered a proto-feminist.

Also pleasant to know: Mr. Carryl.*

Carryl targeted tots. Aped he Carroll?
Carroll’s books were gold. Carryl’s? More beryl.
Carrol’s books were wild. Carryl’s less feral.
Still, his poetry’s not at all sterile;
He’d sterility pen at his peril –
would the pleasant-to-know Mr. Carryl.
No, he’d not – unless Carryl were “ver(y)ill.”

     * Charles E. Carryl (1841- 1920)

Notables Not Unpleasant to Know: Letter B

In his nonsense verse “How pleasant to know Mr. Lear” the popularizer of the limerick makes amusing observations about himself. In the octaves below readers are urged to discover equally intriguing characters who, it’s hoped, will prove just as amusing and, in the end, just as “not unpleasant to know.”

Not unpleasant to know...? Mr. Burgess,*
household word post Frank's "purple cow" lyric.
'Twas a coup (as it duly emerges)
Frank consider'd unpleasantly Pyrrhic.
Drop Frank's tod! Keen no Kadd!** Urge no dirges:
just glom onto Frank's comic strip "Goops"
and the pleasant-to-know Gelett Burgess.
Who so seizes shall hoot till (s)he droops. 

     * Frank Gelett Burgess (1866-1951)

     ** Forget that Frank's dead! Sing Frank no Kaddish!
     (N.B.: Burgess was a master of the coined word.)

Also pleasant to know: Mr. Beckett.*

Each man's fate? States Sam: "Wait...for Godots!"**
I'll confess: sounds depressing. But heck! It
only recaps the chap's previous prose.
If, however, you're up for the trek, it
might amuse. (If not, Watt may be chose.)
As to pleasant-to-know Barclay Beckett,
Sam don't stress more nor less: Sam's necrose! 

     * Samuel Barclay Beckett (1906-1989) 

     ** Employed here is an American pronunciation:

the second syllable carrying the accent above its long 'o.'

Not unpleasant to know? Mr. Bentley.*

who gained fame as the clerihew guru.
(Ed invented 'em, too, incidently.)
Ed was also the entrepreneur who
penned the tome Trent's Last Case -- did it gently.
Folks who credit Ed's life but a blur rue
ev'ry day they neglect E. C. Bentley,
never hollering "Clerihew! Yoo-hoo!"

     * Edmund Clerihew Bentley (1875-1956)