During the half century before his death in 1943, Arthur Guiterman published several thousand poems in newspapers, magazines, and book-length collections. While his work included contemplations of nature, patriotic ballads, philosophical aphorisms, and love poems to his wife, his popularity while alive and his sole attraction today stem from his humorous verse. He contributed a set of light lyrics to the first issue of the New Yorker and was associated with that magazine for the rest of his life. His poems were also a common feature of Life, the Saturday Evening Post,Harper's, and the New York Times. His best verse was characterized by clever rhymes and wry comments on modern life, his worst by either jingoistic militancy or romantic sentimentality. In 1916 he earned the dubious honor of being judged by Joyce Kilmer "the most American of all poets."

As a member and officer of the Poetry Society of...