I love April - it's National Poetry Month! I try to read more poetry this month - it's a type of literature that's harder for me to read (I can't read quickly due to the form) but I love the rhyming and rhythm. Which is why I tend to gravitate toward older poems with set forms.
I've always wanted to do a set of April posts about poems but never got around to it. This year, though, I am on top of it!
Since April 1st is also April Fools' Day, I decided to start the month off with Lewis Carroll. With nonsense words and silly rhymes Lewis is always good for a laugh. "The Hunting of the Snark" isn't as widely read as, say,
Alice in Wonderland, but it rolls along delightfully. Here's the opening of the poem, the "Fit the First" (and those Jasper Fforde fans will recognize the Bellman as, well, the Bellman).
Fit the First
The
Landing
"Just the place for a Snark!"
the Bellman cried,
As he landed his crew with
care;
Supporting each man on the top
of the tide
By a finger entwined in his
hair.
"Just the place for a Snark! I
have said it twice:
That alone should encourage
the crew.
Just the place for a Snark! I
have said it thrice:
What I tell you three times
is true."
The crew was complete: it
included a Boots—
A maker of Bonnets and
Hoods—
A Barrister, brought to
arrange their disputes—
And a Broker, to value
their goods.
A Billiard-marker, whose skill
was immense,
Might perhaps have won more
than his share—
But a Banker, engaged at
enormous expense,
Had the whole of their cash
in his care.
There was also a Beaver, that
paced on the deck,
Or would sit making lace in
the bow:
And had often (the Bellman
said) saved them from wreck,
Though none of the sailors
knew how.
There was one who was famed
for the number of things
He forgot when he entered
the ship:
His umbrella, his watch, all
his jewels and rings,
And the clothes he had
bought for the trip.
He had forty-two boxes, all
carefully packed,
With his name painted
clearly on each:
But, since he omitted to
mention the fact,
They were all left behind
on the beach.
The loss of his clothes hardly
mattered, because
He had seven coats on when
he came,
With three pair of boots—but
the worst of it was,
He had wholly forgotten his
name.
He would answer to "Hi!" or to
any loud cry,
Such as "Fry me!" or
"Fritter my wig!"
To "What-you-may-call-um!" or
"What-was-his-name!"
But especially
"Thing-um-a-jig!"
While, for those who preferred
a more forcible word,
He had different names from
these:
His intimate friends called
him "Candle-ends,"
And his enemies
"Toasted-cheese."
"His form is ungainly—his
intellect small—"
(So the Bellman would often
remark)
"But his courage is perfect!
And that, after all,
Is the thing that one needs
with a Snark."
He would joke with hænas,
returning their stare
With an impudent wag of the
head:
And he once went a walk,
paw-in-paw, with a bear,
"Just to keep up its
spirits," he said.
He came as a Baker: but owned,
when too late—
And it drove the poor
Bellman half-mad—
He could only bake
Bride-cake—for which, I may state,
No materials were to be
had.
The last of the crew needs
especial remark,
Though he looked an
incredible dunce:
He had just one idea—but, that
one being "Snark,"
The good Bellman engaged
him at once.
He came as a Butcher: but
gravely declared,
When the ship had been
sailing a week,
He could only kill Beavers.
The Bellman looked scared,
And was almost too
frightened to speak:
But at length he explained, in
a tremulous tone,
There was only one Beaver
on board;
And that was a tame one he had
of his own,
Whose death would be deeply
deplored.
The Beaver, who happened to
hear the remark,
Protested, with tears in
its eyes,
That not even the rapture of
hunting the Snark
Could atone for that dismal
surprise!
It strongly advised that the
Butcher should be
Conveyed in a separate
ship:
But the Bellman declared that
would never agree
With the plans he had made
for the trip:
