E C Bentley - [The Complete Clerihews]
Gavin Ewart in his introduction to The Complete Clerihews published in 1951 says of the author:

Bentley was an intelligent Gent - and by this I mean a well educated member of the English upper classes. - liberal and uncensorious in his instincts, a member of the Fabian society at Oxford (but also an enthusiastic rowing man).

He became famous for writing short witty poems, named after his own middle name, which were designed to amuse.

Charles Dickens
It was a pity about Dickens
Insane jealousy of chickens
And one could almost weep
At his morbid mistrust of sheep

A more formal definition of the Clerihew is: a humorous pseudo-biographical quatrain, rhymed in two couplets, with lines of uneven length more or less in the rhythm of prose. It is short and pithy, and often contains or implies a moral reflection of some kind. The name of the individual who is subject of the quatrain usually supplies the first line:

Geoffrey Chaucer
Took a bath in a saucer
In consequence of certain hints
Dropped by the Black Prince

Cervantes
The people of Spain think Cervantes
Equal to half a dozen Dantes
An opinion resented bitterly
By the people of Italy

Clerihews certainly enjoyed popularity and were ditties or poems that many people felt that they could have a go at - perhaps a bit like the Haiku today. As late as December 1980 the Weekend Competition in the New Statesman invited Clerihews on existing newspapers and magazines, and in 1981 the Sunday Times ran a clerihew competition.

Brahms
It only irritated Brahms
To be tickled under the arms
What really helped him compose
Was to be stroked on the nose

George Bernard Shaw
Mr George Bernard Shaw
Was just setting out for the war
When he heard it was a dangerous trade
And demonstrably underpaid

The Complete Clerihews which is apparently not complete is set out: one to a page with an amusing pen and ink illustration. Some of them refer to political or celebrity characters that have since faded into anonymity, but I loved them all, harmless fun with a sense of the absurd - 5 stars and I couldn't resist:

Mr Donald J Trump
Is really a bit of a chump
He once stood on the steps of the Capitol
But will soon disappear down a rabbit-hole. ( )

I have long enjoyed some of the better-known clerihews, especially with their witty illustrations, but I must say I found the complete set disappointing. I prefer the ones that actually relate to what is known about the life of the subject, but many of these are feeble combinations of modern (for their time) jokes with the name of the historical person, but no real relevance to the person's life. ( )

E. Clerihew Bentley,
Sent people up, but only gently.
What he wrote were ditties
Full of whimsical absurdities.

This was something of a palate-cleanser after reading several books of limericks, with all their attendant dirtiness. ( )

https://kaggsysbookishramblings.wordpress.com/2016/03/28/witty-words/ ( )

A 'clerihew' is described in the introduction by Gavin Ewart as 'a humorous pseudo-biographical quatrain, rhymed as two couplets, with lines of uneven length'; such as:
Sir Christopher Wren
Said, 'I am going to dine with some men.
If anybody calls,
Say I am designing St Paul's.'

The clerihews have been published in a succession of volumes, each with its own index (the work of Bentley himself), starting with Biography for beginners (1905). The book has an index as original as its content.
The first composite index was to Clerihews complete (1951), but was selective only. The complete clerihews (OUP, 1981), was the first complete collection of clerihews published, and was succeeded in 1983 by a revised, paperback edition, including for the first time all entries from all the original indexes.
There are 140 verses in the 1983 volume, provided with an index of 10 pages, double-column, headed, 'Index of Psychology, Mentality and Other Things frequently noted in connection with genius'.
The index cites merely the subjects of the verses, which are printed in alphabetical order of subjects' names— one to a page, illustrated. The quatrain quoted above yields a reference under each letter of the alphabet; a proportion of index to text of >650%! ( )