Notable Nobs Not Unpleasant To Know: Letters N, O & P

     Not un-
pleasant to know? Mr. Nabokov:* 
     he's whose 
novels -- Pale Fire and Lolita --
     promptly 
wring from one murmur (or sob or cough),
     even 
faster than dashes one's cheetah. 
     Though his 
characters frequently "have it off," 
     spreading 
Brie on their butts (or Velveeta), 
     that's no 
reason to dis Mr. Nabokov.
     Drown that
riff; down a stiff Margarita!
      * Vladimir Nabokov, his last name here pronounced with accent on the first syllable, as it in fact, whether rightly or wrongly, often is, despite the author's stated preference for a pronunciation stressing the second syllable. An octave employing the man's preferred pronunciation appears just below.

     Not un-
pleasant to know? Vlad Nabokov; 
     he's the 
bloke of whom, prior, we spoke of. 
     From his
haut fam'ly home, a baroque hof
     in St. 
Petersburg, Vladimir broke off.
     This dude 
died of bronchitis -- a slow cough --
     but his 
writing's miraculous: no scoff-
     ing at 
pleasant-to-know Vlad Nabokov: 
     (Lepi-
dopterist, too: such the show-off!)

     Not un-
pleasant to know? Ogden Nash:
     though New 
York born, a true Baltimoron. 
     Penning 
packets of puns was his "pash" --
     both in 
peacetime and when 'twas a war on --
    done for 
barter, or, often, for cash. 
     Asked if 
blithe, Nash repli'the, "Si, Senor! Hohn- 
     (sic) -or 
bright*...else I might not be Nash.
     Who im- 
plies otherwise? Shown the door, hon."**    
     * Read "honor bright" here, meaning 'on my honor.'
     ** Nash's use of the local honorific (or 'hon'orific?) 'hon' underscores the man's genuine Baltimoronstrosity.

     Not un-
pleasant to know: Mr. Poe;*
     of the 
myst'ry macab'e he be maven,
     going 
places less brave dare not go:
     deep in 
dialogue dark -- with a raven. 
     What pos-
sess'd him? We simply don't know.
     Offered 
Edgar, "I ain't misbehavin'!" 
     But as 
Poe reaps, so po' Poe must sow,
     he to 
madness eventu'lly gave in.
     * Edgar Allen Poe

     Not un-
pleasant to know: Mrs. Parker,* 
     whose bon 
mots -- (say) "Men seldom make passes
     (that et-
cet'ra)" -- while launched as a lark, were
     quite na-
ive 'bout attractive spec'd lasses.
     Well one 
asks, "Would Dot's dactyls play darker
     had they 
prophesied Mrs. Onassis? 
     Or a 
self-shaded shy Mrs. Parker --
     both of 
whom made much room for dark glasses?"
     * Dorothy Parker

     Not un-
pleasant to know: Mr. Peake.* 
     Prince of 
painters, he penned Titus Groan.
     Writing 
Gormenghast later that week, 
     he then 
tossed off his Titus Alone.
     If you 
fantastic fantasy seek,
     you should 
know: Mervyn's output's thus known.
     Not un-
pleasant to boot: Mervyn Peake,
     though to 
deadly dementia prone.
     * Mervyn Peake

Notable Nobs Not Unpleasant To Know: Letter M

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 un-
pleasant to know? Taj Mahal,
     christened 
Henry Saint Clair but called 'Taj' --
     a man 
born ‘midst the Apple's grim sprawl
     but brought 
up in an artist's menage. 
     Though 'twas 
farming Taj loved first of all,
     he e-
volved his artistic collage --
     did this 
maestro of notes, Taj Mahal --
     nor's his 
art some Death Valley mirage.

     Not un-
pleasant to know? Mr. Maugham
     (that's the 
Maugham most call W. Somerset) --
     widely 
scanned from New Jersey to Nam,
     rarely 
panned by the Smart (or the dumber) Set.     
     This phe-
nom signed his work (no faux noms)
     when he 
penned his best stuff. I've read some: a set
     graces 
many a shelf. Mr. Maugham
     ate those 
prize-winners' meals only comers 'et.

    Not un-
pleasant to know? One McGonagall,* 
     who was 
Edinburgh-born -- not of Donegal. 
     Consult 
every poetical chronical; 
     hit each 
British Lit Hist'ry you wanna, pal: 
     William 
Topaze's po'ms are canonical
     as the 
worst verses...ever! Ironical? 
     Not at 
all. Not-unpleasant McGonagall
     augurs 
Edgar Guest...and that Madonna gal.
     * William Topaze McGonagall, so-called world's worst poet.

     Not un-
pleasant to know? Mr. Milligan,*
      christened 
Terence Al Pat Sean (not "Spike”). 
     Who can 
pen bits of clowning that kill? He can. 
     (Those who 
think not can just take a hike.) 
    The Goons 
thrilled us back then; will they thrill again?
     Where be 
new Harrys,** Petes,*** Mikes****...their like? 
     Where, in-
deed's, the next pleasant Spike Milligan?
     (Are you 
list'ning, Miranda Hart-Dyke?)
     * Terence Allan Patrick Sean ("Spike") Milligan 
     ** Harry Secombe 
     *** Peter Sellers 
     **** Michael Bentine

     Not un-
pleasant to know: Monsieur Marzials.*
     Does he 
pen ze woist po'ms evva written? 
     Or's The-
-ophile handed ze raw deal?
     Are his 
po'ms but ze woist writ in Britain?
     All ze 
metrical skills of ze harp seal
     he com-
bines in ze lines "Pour La Kitten" --
     does the 
pleasant-to-know Mr. Marzials. 
     (Even 
so: with Theo' we're still smitten.)
     * Theophile-Jules-Henri ("Theo") Marzials. It is difficult to locate the definitive pronunciation of Theo's family name: much depends upon the nationality of the pronouncer. In dealing with a poet of Theo's stature, however, such fine distinctions evaporate.

     Not un-
pleasant to know: Mrs. Moore,* 
     who's nee 
Julia Davis, from Michigan.
     Once I 
wished to know scores of her lore,
     but -- mein 
Gott! -- I would not wish such wish again.
     With Mc-
Gonagall, less is much more. 
     ditto: 
Moore. Don't allow her to swish her pen.
     Pray for 
pleasant-to-know Mrs. Moore:
     "May she 
never prove anyone's dish! Amen!"
     * Julia A. Moore

     Not un-
pleasant to know? Mother Goose.
     As does 
Rhea, the mother of Zeus,
     Mama 
G. lives to overproduce:
     scads of 
lads -- plus one female papoose.
     Ma, dolled 
up in a Moorish burnoose
     of char-
treuse with a lining of puce,
     cries, "O-
le! J'arrivé! Mme Goose!"
     as her 
ragbag of rhymes she lets loose.  

     Not un-
pleasant to know: Messrs Marx.*
     Did you 
know how one bro lead the band
     in which, 
on his career, Mel** embarks? 
     How a 
second sib played the harp...and 
     how his 
harping earned very high marks?
     How a 
third Marx embarrassed his friends,
     with his 
bites -- so much worse than his barks? 
     (Have you 
guessed whence this litany wends?)
     How a 
fourth peddled dresses? (Wot larks!)
     How a 
fifth mimed the first four? In sum:
      You've now 
heard of all (five!) Messrs Marx.
     But…from 
what does the sixth Marx (!) succumb?***
     * Chico, Harpo, Groucho, Gummo, Zeppo...and...? 
     ** Non other than the Velvet F(r)og himself, Mr. Torme. 
     *** For one answer (possibly definitive), cf the poem “Missing Her Marx”
appearing elsewhere within the blog.

Notable Nobs Not Unpleasant To Know: Letters K & L

In his nonsense verse “How pleasant to know Mr. Lear,” the popularizer of the limerick makes amusing obsservations about himself. Below readers are urged to discover some equally intriguing characters who, it’s hoped, will prove as well “Not unpleasant to know.”

    Not un-
pleasant to know: Mr. Kovacs,*  
    tele-
pioneer, comique con brio,
     who be-
queathes us his droll treasure trove -- acts 
     like Nai-
robi's tres-animate trio. 
     "SN-
L"ers? The Pythons? All throwbacks
     to Ra-
gout, Percy Dovetonsils, Gruesome --
     "ak-
a"s of a plupleasant Kovacs:
    why don't 
you -- au review -- deja vu some!
     * Ernie Kovacs

     Not-un-
pleasant-to-know Mr. Kharms* 
     scribbles 
kid lit (though not keen on kids)
     under 
pen names like DanDan and Charms.
     It’s the 
Thirties: his life's on the skids. 
    Forty-
one sees the Russky gendarmes
     appre-
hend him. He dies in his cell, 
     does the 
pleasant-to-know Mr. Kharms.
     (So did 
Sergei Magnitsky? Oh, well…) 
     * Daniil Kharms

     Not un-
pleasant to know: Mr. Kelly,
     proso-
pography's politics pro. (Go
     to New 
O’le'ns, New York or New Delhi:
     you'll not 
spot one from whom satires flow so). 
     Stinging, 
shocking -- like Machiavelli, 
     as our 
bros E. A. Poe and Thoreau know.
     King of 
Mock'ry? Cartoonist Walt Kelly.
     D'ya like 
prose? You’ll love those who "go Pogo!" 
     * Walt Kelly

     Not un-
pleasant to know: Mr. Leacock.
     Stephen's 
Novels dubb'd Nonsense? Hilarious! 
     (The man's 
surname's pronounced as is 'peacock'
     while his 
humor's nowt short of nefarious.) 
     It’s but 
work of a moment to see: cock-
     -an'-
bull tales from Stephen's gregarious
     Number
2 are the best -- as is Leacock: 
     plies his 
pen like a '10** Stradivarius. 
     * Stephen Leacock 
     ** The 1710 Strad referenced could be any of four extant instruments. It rates, as well, a perfect ten on the string scale.

     Not un- 
pleasant to know: Mr. Lennon,* 
     who pro- 
claimed, "We're more famous than Jesus!"
     (he in- 
cluded the three other men in
     his small 
band). But he did so to tease us,
     and to 
flog the new book he'd been pennin' 
     [Note to 
self: Always draw an advance.]
     titled 
In His Own Write By John Lennon.
     (His ti-
reurs never gave peace a chance.
     * John Lennon

     Not un-
pleasant to know: Mr. Lem,* 
     he whose 
works include Pirx and Solaris.
     Never 
panned for a pleth'ra of phlegm,
     Stan's ap-
plauded from Patna to Paris.
     Though un-
worthy to finger the hem
     of this 
man's pantaloons -- 'twould embarrass --
     I find 
pleasant-to-know Mr. Lem 
     a bro 
"-matic" (of course I mean "charis-").
      * Stanislaw Lem

Notable Nobs Not Unpleasant To Know: Letters H, I & J

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


     Not un- 
pleasant to know? Blind bard Homer.
     With some 
quill he had, penned he the Iliad?
     Nope! That 
Homer wrote Greek's a misnomer:
     sang he 
Greek! (As for lit'racy, nil he had.)
     His U-
lysses? No sissy! A roamer!
     His A-
chilles? In fin, just some silly lad
     suff'ring 
athlete's foot. (Thus prescribes Homer:
     "To heal 
heels, take, with meals, balm from Gilead!"

     Not un-
pleasant to know: those bros Howard.*
     With wit 
Fine,** as The Stooges they flowered. 
     Moe played 
bully to brother Shemp's coward
     as all 
three would race steadily row-ward.
     But, though 
famed from King County to Broward,***
     all their  
slapstick eventu'lly soured, 
     as did 
Shemp, Moe (and Curly Joe) Howard.
     (Begs the 
quest: had no Stooge never showered?)

     Not un- 
 pleasant to know: Zinken Hopp.* 
     Avid 
fans of her fancies are legion:
     the gal 
translated Carroll: full stop! 
     (Need we 
add it was into Norwegian?) 
     She'd ne'er 
sashayed near Cheshire nor Shrop-
     shire, yet 
walked the Carrollian walk --
     talked the 
talk, too, did pleasant Ms. Hopp
     (As can 
youse, if you use "Magic Chalk.")  
     * A nom de plume of Signe Marie Brochmann

     Not un- 
pleasant to know: Mr. Hoskyns,* 
     him who 
fashioned the famed hircocervus
     "Trusty 
Servant," bedecked in bourgeois skins.
     (Would to 
goodness we'd sev’ral to serve us.) 
     Like ga-
loots wearing boots in a mosque ins-
     ta-
-bilitate status quo ante,
     not-un-
pleasant-to-know Mr. Hoskyns
     (what 
a wit!) out-“Commedia”s Dante.
     * Sir John Hoskins (or Hoskyns)

     Not un- 
pleasant to know: Ionesco,*
     a Thé-
-âtre d'l'Absurde sort of fellow.
     Had he 
now-dead accomplices? Yes: co-
     con-
spirator L. Pirandello. 
     Nonsense 
fan: come in, man, from the fresco!
     Take a 
chair,** stroll the air,** meet some rhinos...** 
     and the 
pleasant-to-know Ionesco.
     Are there 
laughs to be had? Alpha Psi***** knows.  
     * Eugene Ionesco
     ** A list of Ionesco’s works will include “The Chairs,” “Stroll in the Air” and “Rhinoceros.”

     Not in-
pleasant to know: Lady Florence. 
     A new 
flick Flo's fame's quickly enhancing. 
     From her 
throat soar sour notes (Tally? Torrents),
     sung to 
scores spoofing sores someone's lancing.
     She'd out-
grabe e'en Arabian Lawrence.
     (Apro-
pos, this film shows Hugh Grant dancing.)
     "I did 
sing," sighs the fly Lady Florence,
     "even 
though doubters crowed that I can't sing."

     Not un- 
pleasant to know: Mr. Joyce,* 
     whose U-
lysses runs deep, I confess. 
     He em-
ploys stream-of-consciousness voice,
    so what's
said's really anyone's guess.
     English
majors, though, haven't a choice:
     on through
Jim's ersatz Homer they press,
     fin'lly
coming to terms with James Joyce
     once they
read Molly's "...yes I will yes..."
     * James Joyce

     Not un- 
pleasant to know: Mr. Jarry* --
     plays pro-
vocateur, plying his Ubu.
     Though the 
bourgeoisie bellow "How dare he!" 
     I (for 
one) withold "boo"s: Why must you boo? 
     Does he 
die an old sage? Au contraire: he
     dies a 
youth, begging, "Lend me your toothpick," 
     does the 
pleasant-to-know Mr. Jarry...
     and, for-
sooth, remains avant garde youth pick. 
     * Alfred Jarry 

     Not un-
pleasant to know: Jacques Tati*...
     ak-
-a Mr. Hulot to you lot.
     Does he 
die a pro rugger...? Not he...
     much pre-
ferring his role as Le Fool -- not...
     that "Le 
Tät" appears foolish to me:
     Zut! I've 
screen'd his Mon Oncle five times...
     each time 
laughing along with Tati...
     (though un-
earthing, for 'Hulot,' few rhymes).
 
     * Born Jacques Tatischeff