During his lifetime, Ogden Nash was the most widely known, appreciated, and imitated American creator of light verse. The many Nash admirers, both scholars and the general public, would maintain, with considerable justification, that the poet's reputation has grown still further in the years since his death. The continuing sales of his books lend substantial support to their views. Certainly few writers of light or serious verse can claim the same extensive dissemination of their poems that Nash's works enjoy, both with and without citation of the author. Certain Nash lines, such as "If called by a panther, / Don't anther," and "In the vanities / No one wears panities," and "Candy / Is dandy, / But liquor / Is quicker" have become bits of popular American folklore. As Nash remarked in a late verse, the turbulent modern world has much need for the relief his whimsy offers: "In chaos sublunary / What remains...