BRILLIANT NONSENSE

"'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe..." Lewis Carroll, "Jabberwocky"

Dr. Seuss, Shel Silverstein, Ogden Nash, and Lewis Carroll - different generations, different styles, different goals, but equal genius. Each wrote nonsense verse. Nonsense verse is poetry that is nonsensical because it contains words that are made up and meaningless (such as, “Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe…”, or because the words used may exist but make little sense in the context they are used.

Most nonsense verse is written to entertain children. Many authors of nonsense verse end up being quite controversial. Personally, I think this is happens, first, because those who make these decisions are not bright enough to recognize the brilliance in the work and, second, because we live in a era of such ridiculous political correctness that many people simply have no sense of humor anymore.

Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel) is perhaps the best known and most prolific writer of nonsense verse created to entertain children. Beginning with “The Cat in the Hat,” Geisel created numerous zany rhyming poems, with vibrant anthropomorphic characters in absurd situations, calculated not only to show children the fun of reading, but to teach lessons in the process. For decades, Geisel’s works were considered bastions of liberalism, but in more recent years, many of his books have been criticized or banned as being racist, primarily because of the illustrations, which at the time they were done, we not considered controversial at all. (March 2021, Constance Grady, “Dr. Seuss is a beloved icon who also drew some extremely racist stuff.”)

Shel Silverstein (my personal favorite) also wrote nonsense verse primarily for children. I love his poems and still read the books I bought decades ago to read to my son when he was young. Silverstein’s books, such as “Where the Sidewalk Ends,” are packed full of delightful relatable poems written in a manner that entertains adults as well as kids. His works question things, like a why doesn’t a babysitter sit on a baby. Unfortunately, adults with their predilection for over-analysis have caused many of his books to be banned. For example, in 1985, what I consider to be a bunch of grumps at Cunningham Elementary School in Beloit, Wisconsin said that “A Light in the Attic” should be banned from their school district because it “encourages children to break dishes so they won’t’ have to dry them.” They were successful and many other school districts followed, putting the book 51st in the list of the 100 most banned books of the 1990’s. (August 2011, R. Wolf Baldassarro, “Banned Books Awareness: Shel Silverstein)

Ogden Nash is famous for very short, very funny light verse. For Nash, poems had to rhyme even if he had to make up a word for that to happen. For example, in a poem about baby gifts, he wrote, “A bit of talcum, Is always walcum.” A few of his most famous poems are, “Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker,” “If called by a panther, don’t anther,” and “The cow is of the bovine ilk; one end is moo, the other milk.” With his sense of whimsy and prolific and varied writings, Nash has been dubbed the most appreciated and imitated writer of light verse. Rather than being considered controversial himself, he poked fun at those who were. He was an acerbic social critic and waded into contemporary controversies frequently. When women began wearing trousers in 1931, he wrote: “Sure, deck your lower limbs in pants, Yours are the limbs, my sweeting, You look divine as you advance, Have you seen yourself retreating?” (December 2005, The Irish Times, “Witty verse, often terse”)

Lewis Carroll, the pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, was an English logician, mathematician, photographer, and novelist, best known for writing “Alice in Wonderland” and its sequel, “Through the Looking Glass.” His poem, “Jabberwocky,” was included in “Through the Looking Glass.” “Jabberwocky” is considered one of the greatest nonsense poems written in English, well, sort of English. Although the words are seemingly unintelligible, in fact, many are an amalgam of other words, such as “galumphing” which is a blend of “gallop” and “triumphant,” and “mimsy” which is a blend of “flimsy” and “miserable.” (Wikipedia). During his lifetime, Carroll was a lauded celebrity, but, he became controversial posthumously when some scholars interpreted his work to be tainted with “possibly pedophiliac tendencies.” He continues to have defenders and critics, and the debate continues fogging his legacy. (February 2017, Sarah K. Elliot, “Understanding Concerns about Lewis Carroll”). Another prevalent rumor is that Carroll was under the influence of LSD or other mind-altering drugs when we wrote the Alice stories. However, there is no evidence whatsoever to link Carroll to drug use. (mural.uv.es, “Lewis Carroll: Frequently Asked Questions”)

Today’s poem is nonsense verse. I do not expect to become controversial because of it, although that might not be a bad thing.

PB&J

The pit bull of my stomach is growling,
longing for a tasty dish,
perhaps peanut butter and jellyfish
would satisfy my bellywish.

Yes, that’s it!

A fistful of dough thick as a wad of cash.
It will disappear in a flash
as I turkey gobble it
filling my hallowed hollows
with unfowl food for thought.