Mother Goose for Grown-ups — Story, Setting & Ideas

Mock-Heroic Diction and Comic Violence

Carryl’s signature move is to dress nursery characters in the language of epic poetry. In “The Preposterous Performance of an Old Lady of Banbury,” the old lady’s fall is compared to a “red Italian sunset” beside a “Beardsley poster” and the “aurora borealis.” The absurd simile is typical: Carryl piles on cultural references to heighten the ridiculousness. Violence is frequent but cartoonish. In “The Quixotic Quest of Three Blind Mice,” the farmer’s wife “sought them” with a knife, but the poem’s tone remains arch. The moral of “The Commendable Castigation of Old Mother Hubbard” (not fully excerpted) likely follows suit. Carryl’s rhymes often end with a sardonic couplet that undercuts any sentimentality.

Recurring Patterns: The Ironic Moral and the Deflated Hero

Each poem concludes with a moral that twists the original lesson. In “The Preposterous Performance of an Old Lady of Banbury,” the moral warns against buying “old horses” and mistaking “a molehill as a mount.” The tone is dry, almost cynical. The heroes are consistently deflated: Jack is jilted, the old lady falls flat, and the three blind mice are trapped. Carryl’s characters are not innocent children but adults in miniature, prone to vanity and folly. The poem “The Singular Sangfroid of Baby Bunting” (title only) suggests a similar treatment. The collection’s unity comes from this repeated pattern: a nursery setup, elaborate description, a comic mishap, and a pointed moral.

Illustrations and the Visual Dimension

The book includes illustrations by Peter Newell and Gustave Verbeek, which are integral to the humor. The frontispiece, captioned “‘Will you tell me if it’s straight?’” (from the old lady poem), shows a woman astride a horse, her bonnet askew. Other illustrations, such as “She was so charmingly Watteau-like” and “While by kicks he loosened bricks,” reinforce the mock-heroic tone. The visual gags complement Carryl’s verbal ones. Readers should note that the text references these images; the poems were likely designed with the illustrations in mind. The collaboration between poet and artists creates a unified satirical experience.

Carryl’s collection rewards readers who enjoy verbal play and a touch of cynicism. The poems are best read aloud to appreciate their rhythm and rhyme. Pay attention to the morals: they often undercut the story just told. The illustrations by Newell and Verbeek add another layer of humor, so consult them as you read. This is not a children’s book but a sophisticated parody for adults who know the original rhymes and can appreciate their inversion.

That rainy afternoon, Carryl’s mock-heroic Jack toppling down his hill made me laugh, then pause. Beneath the wordplay, I sensed a lonely ache in those swollen rhymes. The window blurred the fence posts soft. I set the book down, and my hand drifted, almost by accident, toward Sun and Saddle Leather — Reading Companion. Its plain, dry landscape felt like a quiet clearing after all that thunder.