The Picture of Dorian Gray
by Oscar Wilde
A young man of beauty and grace
Tries to shield his good name from disgrace.
He looks like a saint
While he withers in paint,
But he still finds himself losing face.
Dracula
by Bram Stoker
A solicitor pays his respects
To a count whom no surface reflects,
And who moves to the UK
To follow his outré
Desire to suck on some necks.
Ulysses
by James Joyce
A lass who keeps raising her dress
Is awash with erotic distress.
’Spite her wandering womb,
Should she keep Leo Bloom?
Why yes, she says, yes she will, yes.
“A Modest Proposal”
by Jonathan Swift
A man caused a hullabaloo
By posting this practical view:
Economics call for
Irish babes of the poor
To be served to the rich as ragout.
Sherlock Holmes
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The world’s most proficient detective
Has deductive techniques most effective.
(Though his Watson stays close
With an opium dose
Lest Holmes hit him with an invective.)
The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
by C. S. Lewis
Four children go looking for glory
In this sweet portal fantasy story.
Through a wardrobe they’re drawn,
Where they meet a faun and
A leonine Christ allegory.
(Though one brother, brimming with spite,
Takes the White Witch’s side in their fight.
He sells out his siblings
So he can keep nibbling
His portion of Turkish delight.)
Normal People
by Sally Rooney
A Sligo-born laddie and lass
Are close, yet divided by class.
Are they truly peers?
By turns, each one fears
That they’re naught but a hot piece of ass.
Waiting for Godot
by Samuel Beckett
Two gents who are meeting Godot
Are anxious that he’ll never show.
So, they wait, and they wait
Till the hour grows late
And