Relationship between Ogden Nash's "Billboard" and Joyce Kilmer's "The Tree"
The Billboard
I think that I shall never see,
A billboard lovely as a tree.
Perhaps, Unless the billboards fall,
I’ll never see a tree at all.
Frederic Ogden Nash was born on August 19, 1902 in Rye, New York. He was the second youngest of five kids. Ogden Nash attended St. George’s School in Newport, Rhode Island, and entered Harvard University. His family ran into financial problems, so he left after one year of college to find work. Ogden Nash published his first work in 1930. He wrote poetry. His poetry was funny, and sometimes rhymed. He was a major contributor to the New Yorker. Ogden Nash died in Baltimore, Maryland on May 19, 1971.
Some of his works:
 | Humorous Verse |
| 1925 Cricket of Cavador |
| 1931 Hard Lines |
| 1931 Free Wheeling |
| 1936 The Bad Parents' Garden of Verse |
| 1938 I'm a Stranger Here Myself |
| 1942 Good Intentions |
| 1949 Verses |
| 1950 Family Reunion |
| 1951 Parents Keep Out: Elderly Poems for Youngerly Readers |
| 1962 Everyone But Thee and Me |
| 1964 Marriage Lines |
| 1965 Merrill Lynch We Roll Along |
| 1970 Bed Riddance: A Posy for the Indisposed |
| 1981 A Penny Saved is Impossible |
· Point of view: This poem is being told by the author, Ogden Nash in first person.
· Emotion: I believe that the emotion in this poem is a bit sad and angry because the person sees the trees of the Joyce Kilmer poem being covered up.
· Poetic devices:
1. rhythm: There is rhythm in this poem, and the poem flows because of the way the lines are set up short and and to the point, passing an important thought across. It is like the saying, “Words are precious.”
2. end rhyme: There is an end of the line rhyme at the end of lines 1+2 and the end of lines 3+4 .
Josh Rushakoff
(with apologies to Ogden Nash)
Hamsters are so soft and round,
The most adorable creatures around.
Who would think,
Their cages sure stink.
Of all the animals who sleep nocturnal,
This one wheels to a racket infernal.
Relationship between Ogden Nash's Poem "The Billboard" and Joyce Kilmer's Poem "Trees"
(For Mrs. Henry Mills Alden)
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.