Comic Poems

Thomas Hood's poems alternately cry protest at social ills or bury the reader in puns and silly phrases; the poet thus recommended his epitaph: "Here lies one who spat more blood and made more puns than any man living." The epitaph chosen by his admirers, however, reflects their appreciation of his advocacy of social justice, referring to his famous protest poem: "He sang the Song of the Shirt." In addition to such poetic works as Whims and Oddities, Hood wrote the novel Tylney Hall. He enjoyed wide acclaim in England as a humorist.