Guy Wetmore Carryl (4 March 1873 – 1 April 1904) was an American

humorist A humorist (American) or humourist (British spelling) is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speaking, but is not an artist who seeks only to elicit laughs. Humorists are distinct from comedians, who are show business e ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

Biography

Carryl was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, the first-born of writer Charles Edward Carryl and Mary R. Wetmore. He had his first article published in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' when he was 20 years old. In 1895, at the age of 22, Carryl graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. During his college years he had written plays for amateur performances, including the very first

Varsity Show The Varsity Show is one of the oldest traditions at Columbia University and its oldest performing arts presentation. Founded in 1894 as a fundraiser for the university's fledgling athletic teams, the Varsity Show now draws together the entire Col ...

. One of his professors was

Harry Thurston Peck Harry Thurston Peck (November 24, 1856 – March 23, 1914) was an American classical scholar, author, editor, historian and critic. Biography Peck was born in Stamford, Connecticut. He was educated in private schools and at Columbia College, g ...

, who was scandalized by Carryl's famous statement, "It takes two bodies to make one seduction", which was somewhat risqué for those times. After graduation, in 1896 he became a staff writer for ''

Munsey's Magazine ''Munsey's Weekly'', later known as ''Munsey's Magazine'', was a 36-page quarto American magazine founded by Frank A. Munsey in 1889 and edited by John Kendrick Bangs. Frank Munsey aimed to publish "a magazine of the people and for the people, ...

'' under Frank Munsey and he was later promoted to managing editor of the magazine. Later he went to work for '' Harper's Magazine'' and was sent to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. While in Paris he wrote for ''

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'', ''Outing'', ''Munsey's'', and '' Collier's'', as well as his own independent writings. Some of Carryl's better-known works were his humorous poems that were

parodies A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

Aesop's Fables Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. Of diverse origins, the stories associated with his name have descended to ...

, such as " The Sycophantic Fox and the Gullible Raven" and of

Mother Goose The figure of Mother Goose is the imaginary author of a collection of French fairy tales and later of English nursery rhymes. As a character, she appeared in a song, the first stanza of which often functions now as a nursery rhyme. This, howeve ...

nursery rhymes, such as " The Embarrassing Episode of Little Miss Muffet", poems which are still popular today. He also wrote a number of humorous parodies of

Grimm's Fairy Tales ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', originally known as the ''Children's and Household Tales'' (german: Kinder- und Hausmärchen, lead=yes, ), is a German collection of fairy tales by the Grimm brothers or "Brothers Grimm", Jacob and Wilhelm, first publi ...

, such as "How Little Red Riding Hood Came To Be Eaten" and "How Fair Cinderella Disposed of Her Shoe". His humorous poems usually ended with a

pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...

on the words used in the moral of the story. :You are only absurd when you get in the curd, :But you’re rude when you get in the whey. :—from “The Embarrassing Episode of Little Miss Muffet” Guy Carryl died in 1904 at age 31 at Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. His death was thought to be a result of illness contracted from exposure while fighting a fire at his house a month earlier.

Works

* ''The Buccaneer, Operetta in Two Acts'' (1895) – libretto by Carryl, music by Kenneth M. Murchison, Jr., * '' Fables for the Frivolous (with Apologies to La Fontaine)'' (1898), illustrated by

Peter Newell Peter Sheaf Hersey Newell (March 5, 1862 – January 15, 1924) was an American artist and writer. He created picture books and illustrated new editions of many children's books. A native of McDonough County, Illinois, Newell built a reputati ...

– based on fables by Jean de La Fontaine * ''Mother Goose for Grown-Ups'' (1900), illus. Newell and Gustave Verbeek * ''Grimm Tales Made Gay'' (1902), illus. Albert Levering *''The Lieutenant Governor'' (1903) *''Zut and Other Parisians'' (1903) *''The Transgression of Andrew Vane'' (1904) * ''Far from the Maddening Girls'' (1904) – posthumous *''The Garden of Years'' (1904) – posthumous

Sources

Columbia University biography

External links

* * * *

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20051130012402/http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/index_poet_C.html#Carryl The Wondering Minstrels – Collection of poetry from Rice Universitybr>Guy Wetmore Carryl poetry from Poetry Archive
* ttp://www.surlalunefairytales.com/guywetmorecarryl/ Grimm Tales Made Gaybr>A picture of the cast of a play at Columbia University, written by Carryl
(PDF) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carryl, Guy Wetmore 1873 births 1904 deaths American humorists American male poets Writers from New York City Columbia College (New York) alumni American magazine editors 19th-century American poets 19th-century American male writers Poets from New York (state) 20th-century American poets American parodists American magazine writers 20th-century American male writers