The Tour of Madeline

A publisher I used to work with once told me that from time to time she seeks out poets to write children’s books. She believes that poets often write well for children because they know how to use words sparingly, and also have a grasp on rhyme and meter.

While Ludwig Bemelmans was not a “poet” in the traditional sense, he wrote the popular series of Madeline books using simple rhyme and meter, beginning his first book in the series with the famous lines: 

In an old house in Paris

that was covered with vines

lived twelve little girls in two straight lines.

The smallest one was Madeline.

(Bemelmans, 1)

Rhymes like those used in Bemelmans’ books, as well as in nursery rhymes, are among the first snippets of language that we learn. They are what teach us the importance of words, and what help us transition one day, into reading “adult” poetry. In an article written for Poetry Foundation, John Barr (the president of the organization), writes that “people who care about their poetry often experience genuine feelings of embarrassment, even revulsion when confronted with cowboy poetry, rap and hip-hop, and children’s poetry not written by ‘adult’ poets.”  In my opinion, poets too easily forget what it’s like to be a child, and what first attracted them to the written word.

            I think Bemelmans would have qualified himself as an artist and a storyteller before a poet. His stories are straightforward, and lack any sort of depth or hidden context, but his books are often used to teach children poetry and language at an early age. Since his first book about Madeline is written in rhyme and meter, and takes place in Paris, I thought it would be worth looking briefly at Madeline’s outings around the city.

            A few of the places featured in the illustrations of the book take the reader past the Jardin du Luxembourg, Ile de la Cite, the Eiffel Tower, and the Tuileries Jardin. One of the unique things about the picture book “Madeline”, is that Bemelmans uses art and rhyme to give children a tour of the city of Paris with Madeline, her 11 housemates, and their governess, Miss Clavel.  One of the first pages of the book reads “They left the house at half-past nine, in rain, or shine—the smallest one was Madeline.” The illustration shows a picture of the 12 girls wearing yellow outfits, each with a balloon tied to her wrist, which are for sale within the Garden. Another illustration shows Miss Clavel and the girls walking through the square in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral on the Ile de la Cite, each with a black umbrella.

            Paris is a city full of all sorts of writers and poets. As a frequent visitor to the city, I believe I would be remiss to not mention at least one poet who writes in simple, accessible language geared toward children. Books like these that teach children to enjoy the spoken word and rhyme, are what allow adults to one day be able to appreciate, and to write poetry themselves. 

 

Copyright © Ludwig Bemelmans 1939.

Oscar Wilde Moves to Paris

Last year, on a visit to Ireland, I stopped to admire a statue of Oscar Wilde that lounges on a rock in a park across the street from Merrion Square. I had read a few of Wilde’s works, and seen a college production of The Importance of Being Earnest several years ago. Outside of his writing, I didn’t know much about him. Upon arriving in France, I learned that Wilde spent his last days living in Paris.

            In 1885, when Wilde was 31 years old, he was convicted of gross indecency and sentenced to two years of hard labor. When he was released from prison in 1897, he traveled to mainland Europe. Wilde spent the end of his life living in the Hotel d’Alsace, now L'Hotel in Paris. Wilde was impoverished and still weak from his time spent in prison. Nonetheless, it was at this point in his life that both The Importance of Being Earnest and An Ideal Husband were published. One of Wilde’s most famous poems, “The Ballad of Reading Gaol”, was also written in France about the harshness of prison life. Wilde spent whatever money he earned in Paris on alcohol. Towards the end of his life, he is famously quoted as saying “Alas, I am dying beyond my means.”

            I took the opportunity to go to the hotel where Wilde spent his last days. Like the Beat Hotel, L’Hotel is now a lavish hotel, famous for the visitors it had in the past. Most rooms are rented out for anywhere between 255 and 740 Euros per night, and the hotel restaurant has earned a Michelin Star.

            While “The Ballad of Reading Gaol” is one of Wilde’s most famous poems, I have always enjoyed the elegiac poem, “Requiescat” which he wrote in his teens after the death of his sister, Isola. "Requiescat" or “May She Rest” is a lilting, sad poem with beautiful language and depth.

            The rhythm of this poem consists of an abab rhyme scheme and alternates between using six syllable and four syllable lines. The language that he uses is simple, yet elegant. The first few lines “Tread lightly, she is near / under the snow, / Speak gently, she can hear / The daisies grow” introduces the subject as someone who is still aware of the world around her. But death infuses the poem when he writes about her “bright golden hair / Tarnished with rust”. The line “She hardly knew / She was a woman, so / Sweetly she grew” gives Isola a personality as well as an age. It is the fourth stanza that begins “Coffin-board, heavy stone, / Lie on her breast” in which the mood shifts. The poem moves away from the hopeful tone of the beginning and despairs that his subject is gone. The light imagery from the beginning of the poem, describing snow, daisies, and light hair has been replaced by stone.

            Wilde follows this starker imagery with the lines “I vex my heart alone, / She is at rest”, which hints that he is conflicted between feeling alone and hoping that she is at peace. The end of the poem comes to terms with the fact that “she cannot hear” and also despairs at his own loss when he says “All my life’s buried here”.

            This poem stands out to me, as I often think of Oscar Wilde as a master of light-hearted, often humorous plays. “Requiescat” is infused with conflicting emotions of hope and despair, which seems reminiscent of Wilde’s life, especially the days that he spent in Paris.