Portrait of the Artist as a Prematurely Old Man, by Ogden Nash

[clarinet1]

Only a click away is a recording of Nash himself reading this poem, and doing it very well, with authority, and superior timing

[Popperite]

I liked this. I confess to be a sinner of omission. One sometimes forgets things you shoukld have done or do not find the time to do them on time....

[scythiconatron]

I must agree. One of the people who influenced me greatly once told me that he wanted to join the military because he didn't want to regret not doing so. I thought that one could regret what they had done as much as what they had not, but I realize that what one has done at least gives one memories for the future.

[misshappyluv]

hah i liked that :)

[Elaina43]

Nice, Larry!!!!

Thanks for the nudge.

I'm not saying I'll do what I ought, but it is good to at least think about what I'm not doing.

[cmxcmx]

Very good. It's always nice to hear you recite poetry. :)

I'm reminded of the Oscar Wilde quote in "The picture of Dorian Grey":

"To get back one's youth, one has merely to repeat one's follies."

[ProfessorZaroff]

It's been a while since your last vid. Missed you.

[8WholeThing]

So, is watching YouTube videos all day a sin of commission, in and of itself, or a multitude of sins of omission through avoidance behavior?

[1Weemaryanne]

One of my favorite Ogden Nash poems.

[prhughes0]

Better to write some stupid comment,

than to never have commented at all.

Sins are of the past:

already happened (or not).

Splitting infinitives, while sinful,

reminds that splitting infinities is

essential to perception and thought.

[falchion49]

Nicely done ;-)

[cali4niaSon]

So good to see you again, it's always nice to hear from you.

It's been far to long : )

[seriouslymatsteele]

Lovely.

[custardispeasant]

Should I be embarrassed that I have no idea who Ogden Nash is?

In any case, I love how the poet took light-hearted look at a topic very close and dear to my heart: sinning. Well read!

[Largo64]

@custardispeasant Thanks for the kind words. Your channel says you are 19. Ogden Nash died in 1971, and if you are not a great fan of poetry there's no reason why you should be embarrassed at not knowing about him. Nash wrote what some people call nonsense poetry. It was written with only an occasional rhyming word at the end of a thought, but without meter. He was popular in his day. He wrote such timeless stuff as:

Fleas. Adam had 'em.

;^)

[sparrow111260]

@custardispeasant

Well it is good that you enjoyed it, but should you be embarrassed that you have no idea who Ogden Nash is?

Well, Yes. You should be quite embarresed.

You are on the internet (you know, wikipedia?) and even if you meant this as a joke, it's nearly so ebarressing, it's nearly not funny.

[custardispeasant]

@sparrow111260 Jeepers, that sure is ebarressing! I'll admit that my question was dreadfully phrased. What I really meant to ask was, "Is it bad that I'm 19 years old and only *just now* know who Mr. Nash is?" Sorry for being so dismally inarticulate.

In any case, surely Wikipedia's a little too unreliable to take at face value, isn't it?

[sparrow111260]

@custardispeasant

Don't take me seriously. I was really only a needling and it came out much too hard.

Please excuse me.

[custardispeasant]

@sparrow111260 It's okay, things typed out (esp. on the internet) have an amazing ability lose the irony or sarcasm they were ment to carry. I wonder how Mr Nash managed to keep the full meaning of his words on paper.