“This bridge will only take you halfway there, to those mysterious lands you long to see. Through gypsy camps and swirling Arab fair, and moonlit woods where unicorns run free. So come and walk awhile with me and share the twisting trails and wonderous worlds I’ve known. But this bridge will only take you halfway there. The last few steps you have to take alone.” Quote by an American poet, cartoonist and composer best known in children's literature for his poetry, Shel Silverstein.
Most of what is known about his views and opinions, aside from what may be interpreted from his works, comes from a Publisher's Weekly (24 Feb 1975) interview with Jean F. Mercier. Silverstein discussed the roots of his career in his childhood with Mercier:
"When I was a 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... So, I started to draw and to write. I was... lucky that I didn't have anyone 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 saw their work till I was around 30."
Shel Silverstein, for several years now... has refused interviews and publicity tours, and he even asked his publisher not to give out any biographical information about him. What known is that he is born in Chicago in 1932 and divorced and had a daughter.
So, what do I like about this poet? How do I know him? In fact I was introduced to this guy when I was seven. I was taught to read and understand his poems in school (the simple ones). His poems or stories usually fascinates a child as it often includes stuffs which one may think that it is impossible but yet exist in children’s mind. The theme he used for his poems are often unique as they are often written as a point of view from an innocent little child. And he also quoted and written many poems that emphasized on dreaming out loud, to encourage us to be bold and opportunistic. Humor and laughter could be brought in from his poems as they seem to be telling a story. This really makes one wants to read on and continue on the next poem. Although I may not understand some of his poems at times, but as I read it twice or thrice or more, I do get the intention of the poet, the story he is trying to tell. I also liked the way he writes his story. One is never too old to read a children story. I think Shel Silverstein knows the imaginary mind of a child and so tried to articulate the shout-outs of a child that never dares to speak in a form of writing. His works are much appreciated by the others too. And thus, people will read his poem, appreciate it and remember it.
A few poems by Shel Silverstein for you to appreciate,
Forgotten Language by Shel Silverstein
Once I spoke the language of the flowers,
Once I understood each word the caterpillar said,
Once I smiled in secret at the gossip of the starlings,
And shared a conversation with the houseflyin my bed.
Once I heard and answered all the questionsof the crickets,
And joined the crying of each falling dyingflake of snow,
Once I spoke the language of the flowers. . . .
How did it go?
How did it go?
Anteater by Shel Silverstein
"A genuine anteater,"
The pet man told me dad.
Turned out, it was an aunt eater,
And now my uncle's mad!
The Meehoo with an Exactlywatt by Shel Silverstein
Knock knock!
Who's there?
Me!
Me who?
That's right!
What's right?
Meehoo!
That's what I want to know!
What's what you want to know?
Me, WHO?
Yes, exactly!
Exactly what?
Yes, I have an Exactlywatt on a chain!
Exactly what on a chain?
Yes!
Yes what?
No, Exactlywatt!
That's what I want to know!
I told you - Exactlywatt!
Exactly WHAT?
Yes!
Yes what?
Yes, it's with me!
What's with you?
Exactlywatt - that's what's with me.
Me who?
Yes!
GO AWAY!
Knock knock...
Reference Sites:
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/6166/ss/ssbio.html
http://thinkexist.com/quotes/shel_silverstein/
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/shel_silverstein/poems
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