One of the things we love about Lewis Carroll is his knack for poetic parody. Agnes surprised me today with this Carroll-esque spoof of one of her favorite works by John Keats. Included first is the original Keats poem to highlight the humor in Agnes' tongue-in-cheek version.
Minnows
(an excerpt from "I stood tip-toe upon a little hill" by John Keats)
Where swarms of minnows show their little heads,
Staying their wavy bodies ’gainst the streams,
To taste the luxury of sunny beams
Temper’d with coolness. How they ever wrestle
With their own sweet delight, and ever nestle
Their silver bellies on the pebbly sand.
If you but scantily hold out the hand,
That very instant not one will remain;
But turn your eye, and they are there again.
The ripples seem right glad to reach those cresses,
And cool themselves among the em’rald tresses;
The while they cool themselves, they freshness give,
And moisture, that the bowery green may live . . . .
Workbooks
(by Agnes, age 12)
Where swarms of workbooks rear their ugly heads,
Shoving their papery thickness 'gainst our brains,
To feel the drudgery of printed plains
Temper'd with graphite. How they ever wrestle
With all our sanity, and ever nestle
Their bulk upon our desks (they weigh a ton).
If you but scantily think, "Oh, I'm done!"
You'll notice that more questions will remain;
Yet turn the page, and there they are again.
The workbooks seem right glad to bore and burden,
All for the sake--they say--to foster learnin';
The while they make us toil, they headaches give,
And suffering, that no free time may live . . . .
Our favorite Lewis Carroll parodies include How Doth the Little Crocodile, the madcap companion to How Doth the Little Busy Bee by Isaac Watts; Father William, a reinvention of Robert Southey's straitlaced The Old Man's Comforts and how he gained them; and Hiawatha's Photography, the side-splitting sequel to Longfellow's Song of Hiawatha. (In spite of the order of these links, it is actually far more amusing to visit the original works before the Lewis Carroll renditions.)
That is hilarious! What a clever girl!
Posted by: Theresa | March 30, 2006 at 11:32 PM
That is brilliant! What a creative mind!
Posted by: Rebecca | March 31, 2006 at 12:11 AM
Wonderful, Agnes! So clever, and well-written. :)
Posted by: Dawn | March 31, 2006 at 05:42 AM
That is wonderful! She has such a talent!
Posted by: Amy | March 31, 2006 at 09:07 AM
Love it! I'll be sure to show Anne, who shares the disdain for workbooks, esp. those bearing fractions ....
Posted by: Karen E. | March 31, 2006 at 09:52 AM
What a hoot!! Agnes is a true poet, Violet was just remarking at Jabberwocky yesterday and how funny it is!! We love Lewis Carroll, thanks so much for all the links!
Posted by: Account Deleted | April 01, 2006 at 12:29 PM
You should send this in to a homeschooling magazine!
Posted by: Elizabeth | May 11, 2010 at 09:44 PM