The Hippopotamus
Today, readers of this famous star of a short Nash poem take for granted what a hippo looks like. When Nash composed the poem in 1938, however, not only were they not routine occupants of every major zoo and a good many smaller ones, but even film footage of them was fairly sparse. The unfamiliarity of the hippopotamus combined with its somewhat idiosyncratic appearance and its somewhat funny name it a natural as subject for Nash underline the poem’s theme of self-image and human superiority over lesser species.
The Fly
Using just fifteen words, Ogden Nash presents an effective sermon on the use of questioning some of life’s greater mysteries with specific mention of the design of a higher being. Whether one subscribes to the idea of poem’s God who kept the purpose of the common pest a mystery or not, the point remains the fly is, once again, a perfect character for his particularly concise parable.
Professor Twist
Not all of the memorable characters in Nash’s poetry are of the animal type. Professor Twist is the titular character of “The Purist.” After being described as conscientious and trustworthy as he sets off for research in a tropical jungle, the poems reaches a startling ironic conclusion in which, having just been informed that his wife who was along for the ride had just perished after being eaten by an alligator is removed to remain true to the poem’s title by correcting the messenger: “You mean a crocodile.” The coldness of the Professor’s reaction comes later after we laugh at the shock, but it is in the coldness that we attain recognition. Many people do insist on the value of purity if it means sacrificing their own self-interests.
The Tibetan Lama
“I Will Arise and Go Now” introduces us to a Tibetan wise man known as a lama. Poor thing, for all his accumulated wisdom and serenity, he doesn’t even seem smart enough to realize that isolated from the modern world way up the in the mountains he remains ignorant of soap and opera as well as well as Spam and Tums. Of course, he also doesn’t have to worry about insurance since also has no car; in fact, he doesn’t have to worry about a lot consumer products that the modern world thinks is necessary to achieve happiness. By the end of the poem, the speaker’s attitude has changed and he announces that he’s giving up collecting box tops from cereal boxes; he’s off to the join that lama.
The Abominable Snowman
In addition to animals and real life human beings, a number of fictional creations also populate Nash’s world of ironically comedic verse. The abominable snowman is the star of a poem bearing his name as the title that consists of just four lines. The speaker admits that he has never seen one and then confesses he hopes he never does. The last two lines make the point: if by chance this circumstance should change and he does one day meet the abominable snowman, please let him be a “wee one.” Nash was a master at manipulating the vagaries of the English language; a natural talent sharpened by his day job writing advertising copy. Turns out the Yeti isn’t really the star of his own poem, after all. The real star is the English language and its remarkably flexibility and fluidity that allows a word that until the legend of the Yeti arrived had only ever meant loathsome to the point of causing revulsion. Now, of course, its meaning has been expanded to mean something large and scary that may cause revulsion.
