[421] The Jungle Husband

Dearest Evelyn, I often think of you
Out with the guns in the jungle stew
Yesterday I hittapotamus
I put the measurements down for you but they got lost in the fuss
It's not a good thing to drink out here
You know, I've practically given it up dear.
Tomorrow I am going alone a long way
Into the jungle. It is all grey
But green on top
Only sometimes when a tree has fallen
The sun comes down plop, it is quite appalling.
You never want to go in a jungle pool
In the hot sun, it would be the act of a fool
Because it's always full of anacondas, Evelyn, not looking ill-fed
I'll say. So no more now, from your loving husband Wilfred.

	-- Stevie Smith

Stevie Smith's poetry is beguilingly simple, and incredibly impossible to
imitate. It _sounds_ childlike, artless, direct; in reality, it betokens a
complete and utter originality: she's certainly one of the most distinctive
voices of the mid 20th century.

Which raises the question, why isn't she more famous? I know I like her poetry;
I like its irreverence and its whimsy and its no-holds-barred attitude to a
number of society's sacred cows. But somehow, her poems are not _quite_ there -
they fall just short of greatness. Maybe her subjects are too light; maybe her
verse is just too pithy - I don't know. Pity. But I enjoy them anyway.

thomas.

[Links]

There's a nice biography of Stevie Smith (and an essay wondering why her poetry
isn't more widely read) at http://community.wow.net/folio/Stevie_Smith.html

'hittapotamus' is straight out of Ogden Nash (though if I remember aright,
Smith's poem predates Nash by a goodly bit). Assorted pieces of Nashery can be
found at the Minstrels website,
http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/index_poet.html

From: Suresh Ramasubramanian <suresh@>

On 8 May 2000, Abraham Thomas saw fit to inform me that:

> Stevie Smith's poetry is beguilingly simple, and incredibly impossible
> to imitate. It _sounds_ childlike, artless, direct; in reality, it
> betokens a complete and utter originality: she's certainly one of the
> most distinctive voices of the mid 20th century.

Seconded.  I thought I was reading an Ogden Nash poem, at first :)  
She's got a lot of his touch.

s

Suresh Ramasubramanian + suresh (@) kcircle.com
Friday@ + http://www.kcircle.com
    Intuition (n): an uncanny sixth sense which tells people 
    that they are right, whether they are or not.