somehow, even though kipling isnt considered to be the best of poets..and all too often his poetry has been obscured by the rather uncomplicated style. consider this remarkable stanza:

I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.


A similar poet whose poetry has also allen in the shadows of his awesome literary work is J.R.R.Tolkien. I was reading the LOTR once again..when i came again to this ode to Aragorn Elessar,son of Arathorn, and the High King of the reunited kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor. It is sometimes called The Song of the Dunadan. It was written before Aragorn's ascension to the throne, before the War of the Ring even began.... composed by Bilbo Baggins.


All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost.
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring.
Renewed shall be blade that was broken
The crownless again shall be king.




And if we are talking about forgotten poets..who else but Lewis Carroll with his often humorous, often fantastic limericks in Alice In Wonderland. and the most famous of them all...Jabberwocky is generally considered to be the greatest of all nonsense poems in English. But such glorious nonsense! As Alice put it,

"It seems very pretty," she said when she had finished it, "but it's rather hard to understand!" (You see she didn't like to confess even to herself, that she couldn't make it out at all.) "Somehow it seems to fill my head with ideas--only I don't exactly know what they are! However, somebody killed something: that's clear, at any rate---"


'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought

And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! and through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"
He chortled in his joy.

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.