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. 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: There was a Young Lady whose chin, Resembled the point
of a pin; So she had made it sharp, And purchased a harp, 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: Scale If
only I could see the scale, I’m sure that it would state That I’ve lost
ounces…maybe pounds Or even tons of weight. “You’d better eat some
pancakes- You’re as skinny as a rail.” 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. 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. Candy Is Dandy But liquor Is quicker Ogden had many pieces that
would later resemble Silverstein’s, like The Cow. The cow is of the bovine
ilk; One end is moo, the other milk. 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. STONE AIRPLANE I made an
airplane out of stone… I always did like staying home. 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. Some Primal Termite knocked on wood And tasted it, and found it
good! And that is why your Cousin May Fell through the parlor floor today 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. Here he comes across the
lake. He’s comin’ for his birthday cake. Sing “Happy Birthday, Dragon
Don,” And watch him blow his candles…on. 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. Bibliography 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 6. Silverstein p 49. 7. Nash http://www.westegg.com/nash/cow.cgi
3/5/2000 8. Silverstein p.54