| PAGE | |
| THE PARODY | [9] |
| CHAIN OR CONCATENATION VERSE | [53] |
| MACARONIC VERSE | [59] |
| LINGUISTIC VERSE | [115] |
| TECHNICAL VERSE | [146] |
| SINGLE-RHYMED VERSE | [169] |
| ANAGRAMS | [188] |
| THE ACROSTIC | [198] |
| ALLITERATIVE AND ALPHABETIC VERSE | [204] |
| NONSENSE VERSE | [214] |
| LIPOGRAMS | [220] |
| CENTONES OR MOSAICS | [224] |
| ECHO VERSES | [229] |
| WATCH-CASE VERSES | [232] |
| PROSE POEMS | [238] |
| MISCELLANEOUS | [245] |
| INDEX | [252] |
POETICAL INGENUITIES
AND
ECCENTRICITIES.
THE PARODY.
arody is the name generally given to a humorous or burlesque imitation of a serious poem or song, of which it so far preserves the style and words of the original as that the latter may be easily recognised; it also may be said to consist in the application of high-sounding poetry to familiar objects, should be confined within narrow limits, and only adapted to light and momentary occasions. Though by no means the highest kind of literary composition, and generally used to ridicule the poets, still many might think their reputation increased rather than diminished by the involuntary applause of imitators and parodists, and have no objection that their works afford the public double amusement—first in the original, and afterwards in the travesty, though the parodist may not always be intellectually up to the level of his prototype. Parodies are best, however, when short and striking—when they produce mirth by the happy imitation of some popular passage, or when they mix instruction with amusement, by showing up some latent absurdity or developing the disguises of bad taste.
The invention of this humoristic style of composition has been attributed to the Greeks, from whose language the name itself is derived (para, beside; ode, a song); the first to use it being supposed to be Hegemon of Thasos, who flourished during the Peloponnesian War; by others the credit of the invention is given to Hipponax, who in his picture of a glutton, parodies Homer’s description of the feats of Achilles in fighting with his hero in eating. This work begins as follows:
| “Sing, O celestial goddess, Eurymedon, foremost of gluttons, Whose stomach devours like Charybdis, eater unmatched among mortals.” |