Books: Arthur Guiterman

Is it Fun to Write Funny Poems?

Harper Brothers has issued a set of Arthur Guiterman’s light verse in brick-red jackets; and I am reminded pleasantly, on a drab morning, of this slight, serious-minded humorist of quick movements and real wit. I suspect that every really funnyman must take himself seriously. Mr. Guiterman, of course, has not confined his writing purely to gay verses. He has had serious moments not without power. To be sure Your Puppy’s Valentine is not deep; but there is a poem called The Pioneer which has much grace and beauty.

The accident of his birth is one of the funniest things about this thoroughly American versifier. When you meet him, you will find an earnest little gentleman, with a habit of talking swiftly and seriously, in a twang that is unmistakably U. S. A. He was born in Vienna—of American parentage, to be sure. However, any Viennese tendencies he may have had were safely obliterated by college training at the College of the City of New York, from which he was graduated in 1891. He then turned to editorial work and used the famous blue pencil in such offices as those of The Woman’s Home Companion and The Literary Digest. With such editorial apprenticeship, he was able to become a poetic journalist with great facility and success, without losing any of his pristine talents. His rhymed reviews in Life have charmed for years. It is a hard enough task to be a reviewer of books for several years; but to be a rhymed reviewer for many years shows a consistency of wit that deserves medals and banners.

The verse of such writers as Don Marquis, F. P. A. and Arthur Guiterman deserves far more serious consideration than is generally given it. It is difficult for the public to take humorists as seriously as they take themselves; yet we should, undoubtedly, appreciate these three fine writers of graceful lyrics, whose poems, doubtless, will be remembered long after many of our currently vaunted high-brow poets are forgotten.

I’ve often wondered whether or not it was a joy to write funny poems. F. P. A., I know, works very diligently over his, pays particular attention to the rhythms and rhymes, is a meticulous versifier. Don Marquis writes in more robust mood. Arthur Guiterman is especially facile. His verses move rapidly. I imagine he writes them rapidly. That is often their chief charm as well as their great fault.

J. F.