★★★★★ Seriously silly poems

The Man Who Sang the Sillies

John Ciardi, Edward Gorey (Illustrator)

I first knew of American poet John Ciardi through this book, The Man Who Sang the Sillies, which my mother read to us three kids. I was five years old when it was published in 1961, and I suppose she bought it new. Some time ago I wondered what Ciardi's serious poetry was like. I had read his translation of The Divine Comedy: The Inferno, the Purgatorio and the Paradiso. Aside from that, I was surprised to discover that much of his work was silly poetry for children, and also adults (for instance, the books of limericks he cowrote with Isaac Asimov).

I have read one or two reviews that claim that adults will be amused by The Man Who Sang the Sillies, but children will not. I have a counterargument.

That is our family copy, now sixty-three years old. As you can see, it has been through a lot, but it is still making kids laugh. Here's the inside front cover, showing marks of the affections of preliterate kids.

Here's an extract from "The Happy Family":

Children's heads are very loose.
Mother, Father, screw them tight.
If you feel uncertain use
A monkey wrench, but do it right.

If a head should come unscrewed
You will know that you have failed.
Doubtful cases should be glued.
Stubborn cases should be nailed.

Then when all your darlings go
Sweetly screaming off to bed,
Mother, Father, you may know
Angels guard each little head.

Come the morning you will find
One by one each little head
Full of gentle thoughts and kind,
Sweetly screaming to be fed.

When I was seven, I though that was pretty funny. I still think that.

The poems are accompanied by marvelous line drawings by Edward Gorey. I particularly like the drawings for "Children When They're Very Sweet".

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