Samuel Hoffenstein

Samuel Hoffenstein was an American poet and screenwriter of the early twentieth century, known for his light verse and satirical poetry. He published collections such as "Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing" and worked on Hollywood screenplays including "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". Biography ↓More ↓

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Samuel Hoffenstein

Songs About Life and Brighter Things Yet XLII

Now the mountain top is won, Behold the valley in the sun — The gold and yellow farms that lie Bare-bosomed to the courting sky; The olive hills, the meadows green. The towns that punctuate the scene; The little spires that seem to cry For leaves and blossoms to the sky. So delicate, it seems the breeze Must stir them like the willow trees. Ah, happy vale, how sweet you are, As I observe you from this car; How pleasant here to sit and shirk And know your dwellers are at work!

Samuel Hoffenstein

Songs About Life and Brighter Things Yet XLVIII

I seldom mean a single thing I say, or (as the phrase goes) sing; But if it sounds both bright and true, I like to think I think I do.

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Hope That Springs Eternal

Hope that springs eternal in The human breast, is fond of gin, Or Scotch or beer or anything Designed to help a hope to spring.

When I Was One and Twenty

When I was one and twenty. My ills were in their prime. With aches and pains aplenty. And gout before my time; I had the pyorrhea, And fever turned me blue— They said that I would be a Dead man at twenty-two.

Now I am two and twenty. The aches and pains I thought Were miseries aplenty, Compared to these, are naught;

And even these are bubbles, That scarce can worry me, When I regard the troubles I'll have at twenty-three.

I Had Three Friends in Gotham

I had three friends in Gotham, And one of them is dead. And one of them has palsy And cannot leave his bed.

And now I know the other Will soon desert me too, And end his days in Sing Sing, For something he will do.

In Every Daisy in the Field

In every daisy in the field Full thirty morals are concealed, And though but one of them be mine, And I forget the twenty-nine, Yet am I better off by far Than rich men and their butlers are, Who ever have of morals none, While happy I at least have one.

Songs of Faith in the Year After Next I

The day I like the least is Sunday, And after that, I don't like Monday,

And after that, I don't care whose day Tuesday is — I don't like Tuesday,

And after that, let other men say, "Pooh," and "Bah" — I don't like Wednesday,

And after that, my very worse day Is — in short, I don't like Thursday,

And after that, my evil-eye day Is — the fact's, — I don't like Friday,

And after that, I won't grow fatter, say. Because they have a day called Saturday —

But the day I like the least is Sunday, And after that, I don't like Monday, And after that, I don't care whose day Tuesday is, I don't like Tuesday, And after that, etc. . . .

Soldiers Have to Fight and Swear

Soldiers have to fight and swear To win the stripes they proudly wear; While zebras, most unfit for war. Have stripes enough to fill a corps. Such unequal distribution Is part of Heaven's constitution.

The Small Chameleon Has the Knack

The small chameleon has the knack Of turning blue or green or black, And yet, whatever hue he don, He stays a small cham-e-le-on.

Songs of Faith in the Year After Next XIV

The lapidary care bestowed By God in fashioning the toad; The expert craftsmanship which He Spent on the gnu's topography; The thought which loosened from that Brow The crab, the camel and the cow, With equal lavishness He spent On many a priest and president.

Biography

Samuel Hoffenstein was an American poet and screenwriter of the early twentieth century, born in Lithuania and later immigrating to the United States. He wrote light verse and satirical poetry, characterized by wit and playful cynicism. His collections include "Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing" (1928) and "Year In, You're Out" (1930). Hoffenstein also worked in Hollywood as a screenwriter, contributing to films such as "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1931) and "The Wizard of Oz" (1939). His poetry often employed traditional forms and clever wordplay to comment on modern life and human folly. His work was popular in its time and remains an example of American humorous verse.

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