Poetry

It's National Poetry Day today. Now, despite doing an English Literature degree some years ago, I'm not big on poems. They tend to either be pretentious, meaningless, or just dull, but there are always the exceptions: In my opinion a poem should allow your imagination free reign in picturing a scene, so it should be short, pithy & to the point, while nudging all of your senses into action. so whereas, I don't appreciate Wordsworth, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, or even Blake (which was not a big bonus at university), here's my favourite from my childhood:


Daddy Fell into the Pond
A poem by Alfred Noyes


Everyone grumbled. The sky was grey.
We had nothing to do and nothing to say.
We were nearing the end of a dismal day,
And then there seemed to be nothing beyond,
Then Daddy fell into the pond!

And everyone's face grew merry and bright,
And Timothy danced for sheer delight.
"Give me the camera, quick, oh quick!
He's crawling out of the duckweed!" Click!

Then the gardener suddenly slapped his knee,
And doubled up, shaking silently,
And the ducks all quacked as if they were daft,
And it sounded as if the old drake laughed.
Oh, there wasn't a thing that didn't respond
WhenDaddy Fell into the pond!

Alfred Noyes

It may not conform to high lterary standards, but it still makes me laugh, and as I can remember it from a book I read 25 years ago, it's a good poem in my book.