Poems that pursue the horizon from past to present and poems created for NaPoWriMo 2017 |
Under a toadstool crept a wee Elf, Out of the rain, to shelter himself. Under the toad stool sound asleep, Sat a bog Dormouse all in a heap. Trembled the wee Elf, frightened, and yet Fearing to fly away lest he get wet. To the next shelter - maybe a mile! Sudden the wee Elf smiled a wee smile, Tugged till the toad stool toppled in two. Holding it over him, gayly he flew. Soon he was safe home, dry as could be. Soon woke the Dormouse - "Good gracious me!" "Where is my toadstool?" loud he lamented. -And that's how umbrellas first were invented. Oliver Herford [1863-1935] From: The Home Book of Verse by Burton Egbert Stevenson, 1917, pg.234 ******************************************** Day 16- "The Elf And The Dormouse" is a fun little poem by an American writer, born in England, who wrote and illustrated for numerous magazines some playful children's poems. I thought it was time to have a little bit of a fairyland type of poem. For more about Oliver Herford and his poems, here are two references: http://www.americanartarchives.com/herford.htm and https://www.poemhunter.com/oliver-herford/. Of interest, Oliver Herford did an illustration for a children's poem, "Jack Frost" by Gabriel Seloun [1861-1930] for Ladies Home Journal in 1926. Gabriel Seloun was a contemporary of Oliver's. Jack Frost illustration: http://carrollgardenclub.org/seasonal-art-lhj-1926/jack-frost-lhj-1926-oliver-he... Jack Frost Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.~~Robert Frost |