Public-domain ebook
Frontier Humor in Verse, Prose and Picture
by Palmer Cox
Language: en1,229 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Short Stories·Poetry·Humour
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #64642.
About this book
Frontier Humor in Verse, Prose and Picture is a sprawling collection of Palmer Cox’s comic sketches, verses and short narratives that celebrate the everyday absurdities of life on the Canadian frontier. The book opens with a playful declaration that truth is not only stranger than fiction but also funnier, then launches into a series of illustrated tales, starting with the mischievous “AH Tie, That Deadly Pie,” a rhymed recounting of a thief’s ill‑fated gulp of pastry, followed by witty observations on New‑Year callers, sidewalk scenes, and a miner’s futile quest for treasure. The table of contents lists more than a hundred numbered pieces, ranging from “The Contented Frog” to “The Champion Mean Man,” promising a varied mix of verse, prose and picture humor that captures the quirks of frontier society.
Cox’s voice is unmistakably late‑Victorian, marked by a jaunty, rhyming cadence, a fondness for exaggeration, and a penchant for moralizing under a veneer of silliness. The language is richly descriptive yet accessible, with frequent asides that invite the reader to share in the author’s delight at ordinary mishaps. Readers who enjoy the dry wit of 19th‑century Canadian folklore, the visual charm of illustrated humor, or anyone looking for a lively glimpse into the comic sensibilities of a bygone era will find this volume an entertaining companion.
The opening · free to read
PUBLISHERS’ PREFACE.
Not only is truth stranger than fiction, but it is funnier also. Just as some men have no eye for colors, but are color blind; so some men have no eye for fun, but are fun blind. Happy is the man who can see the humor which bubbles up in daily life; doubly happy he who, having seen, can tell the fun to others and so spread the glad contagion of a laugh; but thrice happy is the man who, having seen, can tell the fun; and having told, can picture it for others’ eyes and so roll on the rollicking humor, for the brightening of a world already far too sad.
Palmer Cox is one who sees, and tells, and pictures all the fun within his reach, as this volume of Frontier Humor will certainly attest.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
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