Arthur Guiterman

Arthur Guiterman (November 20, 1871 - January 11, 1943) was an American writer best known for his humorous poems.

Life and career
Guiterman was born of American parents in Vienna, graduated from the College of the City of New York in 1891, and was married in 1909 to Vida Lindo. He was an editor of the Woman's Home Companion and the Literary Digest. In 1910, he cofounded the Poetry Society of America, and later served as its president in 1925-26.

He also notably wrote the libretto for Walter Damrosch's The Man Without a Country which premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City on May 12, 1937.

Writing
An example of Guiterman's humour is a poem that talks about modern progress, with rhyming couplets such as "First dentistry was painless;/Then bicycles were chainless". It ends on a more telling note: Now motor roads are dustless, The latest steel is rustless, Our tennis courts are sodless, Our new religions, godless.

Another Guiterman poem, "On the Vanity of Earthly Greatness", illustrates the philosophy also incorporated into his humorous rhymes: The tusks which clashed in mighty brawls Of mastodons, are billiard balls. The sword of Charlemagne the Just Is Ferric Oxide, known as rust. The grizzly bear, whose potent hug, Was feared by all, is now a rug. Great Caesar's bust is on the shelf, And I don't feel so well myself.

Books
Beginning in 1907 and continuing for the rest of his life, he was the author of over a dozen collections of poems, including:
 * Betel Nuts, What They Say In Hindustan (1907)
 * The Laughing Muse (1915)
 * The Light Guitar (1923)
 * Wildwood Fables (1927)
 * Death and General Putnam and 101 other poems (1935)
 * Gaily the Troubadour (1936)
 * Lyric Laughter (1939)