The poems in Dennis Lee’s Alligator Pie (1974) and A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) are composed in light verse and characterized by the nonsensical. These nonsense poems, with their compelling rhymes and rhythms, fantastical imagery, and made-up words, come alive when read aloud.
Yet, despite the prevalence of the nonsensical in Alligator Pie and Winnie-the-Pooh, the verse of Lee and Milne sometimes deals with serious themes by articulating common childhood anxieties. Nonsense verse can be of significant value in terms of childhood development; not only does it introduce rhyme and rhythm, but its fantastical imagery and nonsense words can stimulate the imagination, and its serious themes can provide a means of coping with common childhood fears and frustrations.
Alligator Pie
As outlined by G. K. Chesterton in “Child Psychology and Nonsense,” nonsense verse is characterized by a combination of familiar and fantastical or incongruous elements, as well as made-up words contained within grammatical structures. Like Mother Goose rhymes, rhythm is also an important feature of nonsense verse.
“Billy Batter” and “If You Should Meet” are two poems in Lee’s Alligator Pie that illustrate each of the distinguishing characteristics of nonsense verse. The repetitive beat and compelling rhymes of nonsense verse are evident, for example, in the first stanza of “Billy Batter”: "Billy Batter,what’s the matter?How come you’re so sad? I lost my cat in the laundromat, and a dragon ran off with dad, my dad—a dragon ran off with my dad!"
There are also fantastic conjunctions in both poems, such as “I fixed the rips with potato chips” and “Then send him on his way again with feather beds, in case of rain.” Children will recognize ripped clothing, potato chips, feather beds, and rain, but the imagery of jeans being mended with junk food or feather beds being used as umbrellas are unfamiliar and delightfully absurd. Finally, “If You Should Meet” illustrates Lee’s grammatical nonsense in stanzas such as, “And if you meet a potamus, sleeping on a cotamus, do not sing or talkamus, but take him for a walkamus.” Here Lee uses made-up words as nouns and verbs in a grammatically correct sentence.
Winnie-the-Pooh
Like Lee’s poems in Alligator Pie, much of the poetry in A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh is nonsense verse. Made-up words sometimes appear in Milne’s poetry; for example, Pooh’s “murmur” in Chapter 5 includes the nonsense word “goloptious” in a grammatically correct sentence. In addition, Pooh’s verse recalls Mother-Goose-like rhymes and rhythms and makes use of fantastic conjunctions, as in, for example, the first stanza of Pooh’s song in Chapter 6: “Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie, a fly can’t bird, but a bird can fly. Ask me a riddle and I reply, ‘Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie.’”
However, unlike the fantastic conjunctions in Lee’s poetry, Milne makes it clear that the absurd images in Pooh’s verse are impossible. Pooh tells us that a fly can’t bird and a fish can’t whistle, while in Lee’s poetry, a fly birding or a fish whistling would be no more unusual than, for example, a goose brushing his teeth with apple juice (“Psychapoo”) or an elephant “Who couldn’t keep his laces tied” (“The Hockey Game”). Yet, Pooh’s verse does not necessarily restrict the imagination; the child is encouraged to consider why a fly can’t bird and a fish can’t whistle, and the deceptively simple question, “Why does a chicken[?]” in “Cottleston Pie” may stimulate an existential discussion between parent and child.
Serious Themes
Despite the prevalence of the nonsensical in the poetry of Lee and Milne, the poems in both Alligator Pie and Winnie-the-Pooh sometimes deal with serious themes. In particular, both Lee’s “Billy Batter” and Milne’s “Anxious Pooh Song” deal with common childhood fears. The first two stanzas of “Billy Batter” conclude with Billy Batter’s mother and father being taken away, which is the reason Billy Batter is “so sad” and “so glum.” Abandonment by or separation from a parent or parents could be a very real anxiety, particularly for a younger child. The conclusion of “Billy Batter” is wish-fulfilling, however, with the dragon gone and the monster down a well: “And my dad and mum came back, came back—my dad and my mum came back!”
Milne’s “Anxious Pooh Song” in Chapter 10 also articulates a childhood anxiety, in this case the fear of being forgotten. After Owl tells Pooh about the party being held in his honour, Pooh “began to wonder if all the other animals would know that it was a special Pooh Party.” Pooh then begins to imagine, in his “Anxious Pooh Song,” what might be said by those animals who have forgotten his exploits: "3 Cheers for Pooh! (For who?)For Pooh—3 Cheers for Bear! (For where?) For Bear—3 Cheers for the wonderful Winnie-the-Pooh! (Just tell me, somebody—WHAT DID HE DO?)."Although Pooh’s fears are not allayed at the conclusion of the “Anxious Pooh Song,” before the end of Chapter 10 Pooh learns that the party is being held in his honour and that, according to Christopher Robin, he is “the best bear in all the world.”
The Bond Between Parent and Child
The compelling rhymes and rhythms, fantastical imagery, made-up words, and at times serious themes of the poetry in Alligator Pie and Winnie-the-Pooh demonstrate that nonsense verse can be a significant contributor to childhood development. Yet the pleasure of reading nonsense verse should not be forgotten; as Lee points out in Alligator Pie, nonsense verse should “be brought to life almost as tiny plays, preferably with much pulling of faces and bouncing of rear-ends on knees.” Reading nonsense verse is an interactive process that not only stimulates childhood development, but also strengthens the bond between parent and child.
References
- Chesterton, G. K. “ Child Psychology and Nonsense.” Illustrated London News (Oct. 15, 1921). The American Chesterton Society. Jan. 5, 1998.
- Lee, Dennis. Alligator Pie. 1974. Ill. Frank Newfeld. Toronto: Key Porter Kids, 2001.
- Milne, A. A. Winnie-the-Pooh. 1926. Ill. Ernest H. Shepard. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2000.
Jennifer McNeil Bertrand - Jennifer McNeil Bertrand is an association professional with a background in English Literature and Communications.
Join the Conversation