Marks the 35th anniversary of the death of Mervyn Peake. I finished Gormenghast last spring -- what an incredible book. Peake was also an illustrator, a poet, and wrote children's books. Some notes from Peake's son are illuminating. I'll leave you with one of his nonsense rhymes:
THE TROUBLE WITH GERANIUMS
The trouble with geraniums
is that they're much too red!
The trouble with my toast is that
it's far too full of bread.
The trouble with a diamond
is that it's much too bright.
The same applies to fish and stars
and the electric light.
The troubles with the stars I see
lies in the way they fly.
The trouble with myself is all
self-centred in the eye.
The trouble with my looking-glass
is that it shows me, me;
there's trouble in all sorts of things
where it should never be.
(from A Book of Nonsense.)
Speaking of poetry, did you know we have a new Poet Laureate? What is it with insurance men and poetry, anyway?
| Poetry |
