Author: Madison Julius Cawein

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I.

    And the boy that lives next door
    Said to me one day, There's more
    In those rhymes of Mother Goose
    And those tales, I don't care whose,
    Arabian Nights or Grimm's, or, well,
    Any one's, than, I've no doubt,
    You or I can ever tell,
    Or can ever know about.

II.

    Why, there is a land, you know,
    Where the world is so-and-so:
    Where old Hick-a-Hack-a-more
    Kicks the king right out his door
    And sits on his throne and kills
    Blackbirds as they fly from pies,
    Pots them on the windowsills
    I ain't telling you no lies.

III.

    For I met an old man once
    And he was n't any dunce
    Who just told me he had been
    To that land and he had seen
    All those people: even met
    Handy Spandy in a shop;
    And old Doctor Foster, wet,
    Mad enough to make you hop.

IV.

    And he said that Miller, he
    Who once lived on River Dee,
    Told him that he was a wreck,
    Mind and body, knee and neck,
    Haunted by the memory of
    That old flea whose bones he crackt
    On the millstones. It was tough!
    And it killed him; it's a fact.

V.

    And he'd met that fellow, too,
    Of St. Ives and all his crew,
    Wives and sacks and cats; and he
    Said it was a sight to see:
    Wives a-scolding and the cats
    Fighting in the sacks; the kits
    Scratching like so many rats,
    Yowling, too, to give you fits.

VI.

    And he said that Old King Cole
    Was a fraud upon the whole:
    Never had a fiddler
    That could fiddle anywhere
    By the side of him; and joked
    While he drank the vilest brew
    From a cracked old bowl; and smoked
    Worse tobacco; smiling, too.

VII.

    And he said he knows of one
    Oldtime town, all over-run
    With old beggars, that at dark
    Loosen dogs that bark and bark
    Till the people, gone to bed,
    Throw out anything they've got
    Just to keep the peace. He said,
    "Ought n't they to all be shot?"

VIII.

    And he said that that old man
    Clothed in leather was a ban
    On the whole community:
    He was simply miserly,
    Filthy, too: economized
    Clothes and washing that way: and
    This man simply loathed, despised
    Him, his grin, and leather-band.

IX.

    Cinderella, too: why, she
    Was a slomp; just naturally
    Would n't work; and had big feet
    Could have seen them 'cross the street.
    Did n't marry a Prince at all,
    But the ashman. Never at Court
    Or a ball! She had her gall
    To put that in her report!

X.

    Blue Beard was a much wronged man.
    Think it was a well-laid plan
    For his wife, her brothers there,
    Just to kill him and to share
    All his gold and silver. Then
    Great Claus, too, was much abused.
    Think that old Hans Andersen
    Might have known it. He was used.

XI.

    Little Two Eyes ate her goat;
    Was a glutton. If you'll note
    All she did was eat and eat,
    Thought of only bread and meat,
    While her sisters, I've heard since,
    Scrubbed and labored day and night;
    But, it's true, she married a Prince
    Fell in love with her appetite.

XII.

    Jack the Giant-Killer; well!
    He's the worst, the sorriest sell.
    This man met him, and he said
    He was just a bully; bled
    Folks by blackmail. Every one
    Was afraid of him. But he,
    This old man, once saw him run
    From a boy not big as me.

XIII.

    Rudest girls he ever saw
    Were Bo Peep and Marjory Daw;
    Always careless in their dress,
    Given over to idleness.
    Bobby Shafto and Boy Blue,
    Worst boys in the world: the one,
    Fishing when he ought not to;
    The other sleeping in the sun.

XIV.

    Lots of other things he said
    That, somehow, got out my head:
    Something 'bout that girl contrary
    Never had a garden! Mary;
    And Miss Muffet that big spider
    Never did sit down beside her;
    And that Curly Locks the deuce!
    Never had a curl.... A few
    Things he told of Mother Goose,
    And I know they all are true.

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Type of Poem: Narrative Poem

Date Written:

Date Published:

Language: English

Keywords: Public Domain

Source: Public Domain Collection

Publisher:

Rights/Permissions: Public Domain

Comments/Notes: This lengthy poem offers an engaging and playful commentary on the nature of storytelling, particularly as it pertains to the widely known nursery rhymes and fairy tales of childhood. The poet cleverly subverts the reader's expectations by presenting familiar characters from Mother Goose, Arabian Nights, and Grimm's tales in a new light, often humorously contradicting their traditional portrayals.

The poem's structure follows a consistent narrative arc across its multiple stanzas, each of which introduces a new character or scenario from the well of common folklore. The tone is light-hearted and whimsical, with a touch of satire. The poet employs the literary device of parody by reimagining these famous characters and their stories in unexpected, often mundane or unflattering ways, underscoring the distance between the idealized world of fairy tales and the harsh realities of everyday life.

The themes of this poem include the power of storytelling and the necessary suspension of disbelief that comes with it, the interplay between reality and fiction, and the subversion of expectations. By presenting familiar tales in a different context, the poet prompts the reader to question the stories we accept as truth and the ways in which we shape and interpret narratives.