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Light poetry

Light poetry or light verse is poetry that attempts to be humorous. Light poems are usually brief, can be on a frivolous or serious subject, and often feature word play including puns, adventurous rhyme, and heavy alliteration. Typically, light verse in English is formal verse, although a few free verse poets have excelled at light verse outside the formal verse tradition.

"Light verse" redirects here. For the Quranic verse, see Ayat an-Nur. For the short story by Isaac Asimov, see Light Verse (short story).

While light poetry is sometimes condemned as doggerel or thought of as poetry composed casually, humor often makes a serious point in a subtle or subversive way. Many of the most renowned "serious" poets, such as Horace, Swift, Pope, and Auden, also excelled at light verse.

Able Muse

(formerly Light Quarterly), a journal of light verse

Light

runs regular light verse competitions

The Spectator

runs regular light verse competitions as part of its Style Invitational

The Washington Post

The following periodicals regularly publish light verse:

Alla barnen

Clerihew

Double dactyl

Epigram

Limerick

McWhirtle

Michael Braude Award for Light Verse

Nonsense verse