Father Goose: His Book - The Verse

The Verse

Baum stated the premise of his collection clearly in his opening rhyme:

Old Mother Goose became quite new,

And joined a Women's Club,

She left poor Father Goose at home

To care for Sis and Bub.

They called for stories by the score,

And laughed and cried to hear

All of the queer and merry songs

That in this book appear....

After its initial popularity, though, Father Goose proved to be less durable than those children's books that eventually become recognized as classics. No one claims that Baum's nonsense poems are as good as those of Edward Lear or Lewis Carroll. His verse is facile, but often little more than that:

Did you ever see a rabbit climb a tree?

Did you ever see a lobster ride a flea?

Did you ever?

No, you never!

For they simply couldn't do it, don't you see?

Baum continued in the vein of children's verse for a short time, producing his Army Alphabet and Navy Alphabet in 1900; then he largely abandoned verse for prose, and Oz was born.