Epigrams are short satirical poems ending with either a humorous retort or a stinging punchline.

Used mainly as expressions of social criticism or political satire, the most common forms are written as a couplet: a pair of rhymed lines in the same meter.

Practioners of this poetic expression include John Dunne, Ben Jonson, William Blake and Robert Frost.

Example:

Bent and battered, the live oaks have through ages survived
until developed senses of modern man ripped them up still alive.

Time rolls out down wide grassy lawns
yet within these suburbs a dearth of it is spawned.

Such volunteers are said to advocate
but to the law, they instead frustrate. 

Copyright © 2001 Lachlan Ivy