Adventures of Isabel

Isabel met an enormous bear;
Isabel, Isabel, didn't care.

The bear was hungry, the bear was ravenous,
The bear's big mouth was cruel and cavernous.
The bear said, "Isabel, glad to meet you,
How do, Isabel, now I'll eat you"!
Isabel, Isabel, didn't worry;
Isabel didn't scream or scurry.
She washed her hands and she straightened her hair up,
Then Isabel quietly ate the bear up.

Once on a night as black as pitch
Isabel met a wicked old witch.

The witch's face was cross and wrinkled,
The witch's gums with teeth were sprinkled.
Ho, ho, Isabel! the old witch crowed,
I'll turn you into an ugly toad!
Isabel, Isabel, didn't worry;
Isabel didn't scream or scurry.
She showed no rage and she showed no rancor,
But she turned the witch into milk and drank her.

Isabel met a hideous giant,
Isabel continued self-reliant.

The giant was hairy, the giant was horrid,
He had one eye in the middle of his forehead.
"Good morning, Isabel," the giant said,
"I'll grind your bones to make my bread."
Isabel, Isabel, didn't worry;
Isabel didn't scream or scurry.
She Nibbled the zwieback that she always fed off,
And when it was gone, she cut the giant's head off.

Isabel met a troublesome doctor,
He punched and poked till he really shocked her.

The doctor's talk was of coughs and chills,
And the doctor's satchel bulged with pills.
The doctor said unto Isabel,
Swallow this, it will make you well.
Isabel, Isabel, didn't worry;
Isabel didn't scream or scurry.
She took those pills from the pill-concocter,
And Isabel calmly cured the doctor.

--Ogden Nash

Where do you think Isabel's adventures took place? Was it in her neighborhood, in her imagination, or in the poet's mind? Can you recall making up gruesome stories as a child? From the nature of her adventures, what three well-known children's stories do you think Isabel, or the poet, may have read?

pictures courtesy of all posters.

lesson for the day,
Mimi