7 Standout Parody Poems

Parody in poetry is a satirical device used to critique or mock the conventions, style, or content of another work, author, or genre.

A parodist mimics the original work in an exaggerated or distorted manner to create humor, critique, or irony. Despite its often-comedic intent, parody provides incisive commentary and stimulates critical thought, challenging the audience to question the norms and standards of the original work.

Parodies can be lighthearted and fun, but they can also provide deeper social commentary, implicitly questioning the values, trends, or ideas of the time. Works by poets like Lewis Carroll and Ogden Nash often use parody effectively.

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As it Should Be

by Derek Mahon

‘As it Should Be’ is a powerful and telling satirical take on the violence that plagued Northern Ireland for decades.

The title, 'As It Should Be,' is a biting parody of societal attitudes that normalize revenge and violence. Mahon critiques the idea that such acts are ever appropriate or justified, using irony to expose the absurdity of this mindset. There are few more potent ways of exposing a person's opposition than this.

We hunted the mad bastard

Through bog, moorland, rock, to the star-lit west

And gunned him down in a blind yard

Between ten sleeping lorries

And an electricity generator.

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Elegy

by Ambrose Bierce

‘Elegy’ by Ambrose Bierce parodies another famous elegy in order to humorously critique the self-indulgence of such poetic lamentations.

Bierce was no stranger to parody as both a poet and journalist. This poem reveals the complexity of his skill, though, as it is not just a simple mocking of Romantic sentiments or traditionally flowery elegies. As the poem mocks by accentuating the powerful sense of despair that infects a person who is heartbroken over the death of a loved one.

The cur foretells the knell of parting day;

The loafing herd winds slowly o’er the lea;

The wise man homewards plods; I only stay

To fiddle-faddle in a minor key.

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The Bait

by John Donne

‘The Bait’ by John Donne describes a speaker’s love and admiration for a woman. He emphasizes what her beauty and goodness are capable of.

The poem is a parody because it playfully responds to Christopher Marlowe's poem 'The Passionate Shepherd to His Love.' Donne imitates Marlowe's style and structure but uses different imagery and themes to create a humorous and clever twist.

Come live with me, and be my love,

And we will some new pleasures prove

Of golden sands, and crystal brooks,

With silken lines, and silver hooks.

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O Lord, Our Father

by Mark Twain

Written in the form of a prayer, ‘O Lord, Our Father,’ is a poem in which Mark twain takes aim at the horror of war as well as the idea of religion being used to support war. War and religion were two subjects that Twain was a regular critic of and he turns his full anger on them in this poem.

This poem works as a parody of the normal kind of prayers that people make, especially at times of war. The poet takes the form of these prayers and the emotions that are invoked in them and takes them to their extreme as a way to parody the emotions and feelings of the war. There is an irony to the different moods which the poet goes between in the poem.

O Lord, our father,

Our young patriots, idols of our hearts,

Go forth to battle - be Thou near them!

With them, in spirit, we also go forth

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A Plate

by Gertrude Stein

‘A Plate’ is a modernist abstract experimental prose poem that explores thoughts triggered by ordinary objects.

The prose poem seems to parody the genre of cookbooks and fashion magazines that guide women to follow certain norms. Slyly parodying the magazine or guide language, the poem defies the rules given in such books as Stein creates her own unique arrangement of words and objects in 'A Plate.'

A PLATE.

An occasion for a plate, an occasional resource is in buying and how soon does washing enable a selection of the same thing neater. If the party is small a clever song is in order.

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Hymn to the New Omagh Road

by John Montague

‘Hymn to the New Omagh Road’ by John Montague is a poem that uses the construction of a new road to show the influence of modernization on County Tyrone.

‘Hymn to the New Omagh Road’ does not use parody in a direct sense. While it does have ironic moments and humor, it doesn’t mock a specific style or form in the exaggerated way that a parody typically would. The poem critiques modernization rather than imitating or mocking any other poem, tradition, or genre for humorous effect.

As the bull-dozer bites into the tree-ringed hill fort
Its grapnel jaws lift the mouse, the flower, With equal attention, and the plaited twigs And clay of the bird's nest, shaken by the traffic.
Fall from a crevice under the bridge

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The Black Man’s Burden

by H. T. Johnson

What happens when Kipling’s ideas in ‘The White Man’s Burden’ pierce the soul of the blacks? Then writers like H. T. Johnson pen down ‘The Black Man’s Burden’ in response to chauvinism, white supremacy, and racism.

Pile on the Black Man’s burden,

’Tis nearest at your door;

Why heed long-bleeding Cuba

Or dark Hawaii’s shore?

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7 Standout Parody Poems

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7 Standout Parody Poems

As it Should Be

by Derek Mahon

Elegy

by Ambrose Bierce

The Bait

by John Donne

O Lord, Our Father

by Mark Twain

A Plate

by Gertrude Stein

Hymn to the New Omagh Road

by John Montague

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