While I was growing up as a child, there were three authors whose works I read devoutly. One was Dr. Seuss and I liked his books so much that I am proud to say I have read every one published. The second author who had a profound impact on me was Jan Bernstein who is responsible for that loveable family The Bernstein Bears. The third is a poet, which is odd because I never have liked poetry. Shel Silverstein?s children?s poetry books were the only poetry I read until I was twelve and are the one?s I still enjoy the most today as a young man. Shel Silverstein is known to most as the critically acclaimed children?s poet, and before this project, I was unaware of the other things he had done. Shel Silverstein also did cartoons, served for his country during the Korean War, wrote folk songs, played the guitar, and probably most shocking to me, were his poems and drawings for Playboy Magazine which depicted fairly gruesome sexual acts as well as drug use, especially his own. Life experience seems to be the influence for his NC-17 rated material but I was curious to who influenced his witty, lyrical children?s pieces. When studying Silverstein?s poetry, you can see how the nonsense subjects and rhymes look similar to Edward Lear?s nonsense poetry of one hundred and fifty years earlier and how the poetry of Ogden Nash, which Silverstein might have possibly read as a child, had influences on Shel?s own pieces.
However, the conclusion I have reached is purely hypothetical. Shel Silverstein once said he had no influences on his poetic style. In a 1975 interview with Jean Merciar, published in the February 24, 1975 issue of Publisher?s Weekly, Silverstein said, ?When I was kid- 12, 14, around there- I would much rather have been a good baseball player or a hit with the girls. But I couldn?t play ball, I couldn?t dance. Luckily the girls didn?t want me; not much I could do about that. So I started to draw and to write. I was also lucky that I didn?t have anybody to copy, be impressed by. I had developed my own style, I was creating before I knew there was a Thurber, a Benchley, a Price and a Steinberg. I never even saw their work till I was around thirty. By the time I got to where I was attracting girls, I was already into work, and it was more important to me. Not that I wouldn?t rather make love, but the work has become a habit? Even though Shel says nobody influenced his artistic abilities it is hard to believe that. Especially when you see how similar some of his pieces are to Edward Lear?s. One of the most captivating things about Silverstein?s poetry is that a sketch that he himself drew accompanies each one.
The Essay on William Blake Poetry Analysis: Religious Influences
He transmits the idea that two states are required in order to fully embrace human spirit. First, one must have a sense of innocence, to fully be open to learning, with the awe of a small child. Next, they must contain the sense of experience, which allows one to recognize both good and evil, in order to begin the process of redemption. This idea is enforced in his works The Tyger, The Lamb, and ...
They are usually funny, humorous sketches that add a visual interpretation to the poem. I thought that only Silverstein used such a technique but Edward Lear used the same idea during the 1850?s. Besides similar artistic abilities they also made silly, goofy poems. Here?s an example from Edward Lear: And played several tunes with her chin. Along with that piece, there is a comical drawing of exactly what the poem says, a lady with a pointy chin playing a harp. There is a poem in Falling Up, by Shel Silverstein that uses the same techniques: I?m sure that?s what the scale would say? If I could see the scale. (Silverstein, p. 12) Of course there is a sketch of a fat man standing on a scale he cannot see, done by Shel himself. Besides being humorous pieces, there are other similarities you can derive. Both poets use the same phrase they used to start and to finish their respective poems. However, Edward Lear never took his poetry as far as Silverstein. Most of Lear?s poems are five lines long and all have a rhyme scheme of AABBA and they all repeat some form the first line for the ending. Basically, Silverstein progressed on Lear?s ideas and form, as did Ogden Nash. Ogden Nash was a children?s poet whose works were being published during Silverstein?s childhood.
The Essay on Ogden Nash Poems Lines Light
Ogden Nash was a poet that used nonsensical and humorous verse to draw people into reading his poems. Then, he would slip in insightful poems that speak a lot about life. His light verse even earned him a place on a postage stamp. His poems contain uneven lines that all rhyme, and he even made up spellings to words to achieve the best effect. Frederick Ogden Nash was born August 19, 1902, in New ...
Even though he says he never read them, you can?t help but notice similarities once again. Nash was a master of light and whimsical verses, a trait Silverstein had as well. Nash?s subject matter wasn?t quite as juvenile and his poems occasionally use large vocabulary words like posterior. Nash is probably best known for his four-line poem titled Reflections on Icebreaking. Ogden had many pieces that would later resemble Silverstein?s, like The Cow. This poem is so incredibly simple it is almost mind-boggling. Silverstein was a master of getting a point across with as little words as necessary just like Ogden?s piece. Very simple, yet it is an enough to make the reader understand the point. Another poem by Ogden Nash that has a lot in common with Silverstein?s work, is his poem called The Termite. It uses iambic pentameter with four measures per line and has a rhyme scheme of AABB. Shel Silverstein has at least two dozen poems that follow this pattern but the one I always liked is called Don the Dragon?s Birthday. Silverstein also uses iambic pentameter with four measures per line and follows the same rhyme scheme, AABB. Other similarities between Nash and Silverstein include their choices of topics. Both have numerous poems about animals, especially the little appreciated (the termite) and the fictional (unicorns and dragons).
Even though Silverstein says her never read Nash or Lear their respective styles of poetry seem to have been emulated by Silverstein in his work. Those are the main two influences on Silverstein?s poetry. Even though he says he never read them, their contributions to poetry paved the way for Shel Silverstein. Edward Lear and Ogden Nash made silly poetry with no hidden metaphors acceptable to the critics as well as mainstream America. They were, by far the two largest influences, even though maybe not directly, on Silverstein?s poetry. Because of these three men and Dr. Seuss funny, silly, lyrical verses and poems are now accepted and even embraced by people all over the world. 1. Friday, Sely. http://195.114233.19/Silverstein/bio.html. 2/29/2000. 2. http://www2.pair.com/mgraz/Lear/BoN/bon020.html. 3/5/2000. 3. Silverstein, Shel. Falling Up, Scale. Harper Collins Publishers, New York City. P. 12 4. Nash, Megan. http://www.westegg.com/nash/ice-breaking.cgi 3/5/2000. 5. Nash. http://www.westegg.com/nash/cow.cgi 3/5/2000 7. Nash http://www.westegg.com/nash/cow.cgi 3/5/2000
The Review on Shel Silverstein Children Poem Work
Few writers of the twentieth century have made nearly the same impact on the literary society than Sheldon Allan Silverstein. His writing encompasses a broad range of styles, from adult to children's, comical to unusual. One of his most common styles was that of fantasy: actions and events that cannot logically happen. This style was evident in his works, the Loser, Thumb Face, Warning, Squishy ...
