The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion
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Poets' Corner - Part II
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This poem rings very true to me today, the day after the Spanish government passed a law by which you can be fined up to €600 for showing "a lack of respect or consideration" to a member of the police force, and up to €600,000 for protesting near a public building. So they fine you if you do something they don't like, and fine you again if you complain about or question it.However, I don't suppose Carroll was haranguing quasi-dictatorships when he wrote this. Do you have a date for when this was written, Zulfiya? Too early for Freud, I imagine, but the fairy does sounds a bit like a moralising super-ego. It sounds as if this person / the poet has a lot of self-imposed repression and I find it hard to take the moral humorously.
I agree with you, Pip, that the fairy sounds like a "moralising super-ego." I immediately thought of the very English habit of self-repression and self-restraint (it was a very English habit in Lewis Carroll's day, at least; probably not so much now.) Although outwardly light, this poem has quite a sad underside.
Emma wrote: "I agree with you, Pip, that the fairy sounds like a "moralising super-ego." I immediately thought of the very English habit of self-repression and self-restraint (it was a very English habit in Lew..."Absolutely Emma - very stiff upper lip! Especially the prohibition on crying.
I agree with what has been said above. The first thing which came into my mind was the fairy was an overactive super ego with no Id to balance it out. It made me think of those cartoons where you have the Angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other, and the fairy was like the angel, but it was not countered by the devil.
While there is something to be said about taking things in moderation, but this poem goes too much in the extreme of the other direction.
I do not think it is good or healthy to completely oppress our desires and that primal side of us, it is good to indulge a little bit.
The fairy quietly replied,And said "You must not ask".
The more I think about it, the more those last two lines send shivers down my spine. When we are forbidden to question, and we acquiesce, I believe we are lost.
I know very little about Lewis Carroll; does anyone know what might have inspired him to write this poem?
Pip wrote: "The fairy quietly replied,And said "You must not ask".
The more I think about it, the more those last two lines send shivers down my spine. When we are forbidden to question, and we acquiesce, I..."
That is a very chilling line and it can be applies to so many different aspects of life in which people often blindly follow, and when they are discouraged from questioning. This could be applied to Government, Society, Religion.
I tried to do some research about the poem, and NOT the most reliable source says that it was written in 1845 when Carroll was only thirteen!!!! It was never published during his lifetime, but was published posthumously in 1932. For his age, Carroll demonstrated an uncanny level of insightfulness and perspicacity. No wonder why he became a famous mathematician.
I love everyone's analysis, though. We do tend to find so much in several lines because language is a magical tool that allows us to fill the world with sense, meaning, and direction.
I promise I will find something more straightforward and canonical for the next post.
Zulfiya wrote: "I promise I will find something more straightforward and canonical for the next post."Oh no, please don't feel you have to do that!! I think this is a great poem and I'm really glad you found and posted it. Negative feelings about something don't necessarily mean lack of interest, in fact it's often the other way round.
I think Carroll is a teenager railing against Victorian strictness with children, who should be 'seen and not heard'. Perhaps a precursor to Alice in Wonderland when she entered an upside down world where everything was possible. Carroll was the son of a Rector and was brought up very strictly. Here is an interesting piece on Carroll and the possible implications of Alice:-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19...
As an elderly Englishwoman I rather regret the passing of the stiff upper lip and think emotion has now gone too far the other way, often showing complete lack of control. Too much tearfulness, too much boastfulness (High Fives!!), too much rage, too many adults behaving like spoilt children:(
A December poem I remember from childhood is Winter from Loves' Labour Lost by Shakespeare, the alliterations of which roll off the tongue delightfully when recited aloud:-WHEN icicles hang by the wall
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail,
And Tom bears logs into the hall,
And milk comes frozen home in pail;
When blood is nipt, and ways be foul,
Then nightly sings the staring owl
Tu-whoo!
Tu-whit! tu-whoo! A merry note!
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
When all around the wind doth blow,
And coughing drowns the parson's saw,
And birds sit brooding in the snow,
And Marian's nose looks red and raw;
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl—
Then nightly sings the staring owl
Tu-whoo!
Tu-whit! tu-whoo! A merry note!
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
My Fairy by Lewis Carroll
I have a fairy by my side
Which says I must not sleep,
When once in pain I loudly cried
It said "You must not weep"
If, full of mirth, I smile and grin,
It says "You must not laugh"
When once I wished to drink some gin
It said "You must not quaff".
When once a meal I wished to taste
It said "You must not bite"
When to the wars I went in haste
It said "You must not fight".
"What may I do?" at length I cried,
Tired of the painful task.
The fairy quietly replied,
And said "You must not ask".
Moral: "You mustn't."
1. What does the fairy symbolize?
2. Is the poem about our desires and how to confront them?
3. Do you agree with the moral?
Looking forward to your thoughts.