`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll
I suppose that there is a continuum of poetic wordplay, on one end the simple, straightforward, perhaps pedestrian, lexicon of Cowboy poetry, and on the other end the schizophrenic semiotics of nonsense. (I'll give a pass to Jabberwocky, as it actually utilizes portmanteaus, and though appearing to be nonsense, isn't.)
However, it does illustrate the fact that nonsense can sound poetic, when placed in a grammatical context, i.e. “Something is in the something, and does something in some way”. It's grammatical, but is nonsense, because it has no meaning.
So when does poetry pass the line of interesting, but meaningful wordplay and enter the tenebrous realm of nonsense?
I am definitely in favor of wordplay that creates imagery and does that by pushing the envelope slightly, utilizing unusual and ambiguous combinations of words to stretch your mind.
However, when I see combinations of words that make no sense (except perhaps to the author), I can only think that they are just creating a bit of word porn. It looks pretty and exciting, it sounds totally cool, has great rhythm, and might even be considered “poetic”, but when analyzed, is often bereft of meaning or values, and hence in the end, leaves me unsatisfied, and ultimately, bored.
Like a one trick pony.