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Poem Introduction

Lewis Carroll (who lived 1832-1898 and was born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) was a master at humorous wordplay and making the illogical logical. His accomplishments as an English writer of children’s fantasy fiction are highlighted by his works, Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.

“Because He Could Not Jump” is my adapted version of Lewis Carroll’s poem “The Pig” that highlights the pig’s perils through the delightful use of meter, rhyme, and repetition. Carroll’s poem brings to life deeply human characteristics through characters that are ironically animals. The story plays out effectively, and never boringly, like a continuation of Aesop’s fables. He also, without cliché, delivers a powerful moral lesson about the necessity of listening to others and training solidly in order to accomplish your lofty aims or burning passions in life. The obtuse storytelling keeps a sense of mystery as the sequence of interactions plays out.

—Beverly Stock

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Because He Could Not Jump

by Lewis Carroll | Adapted by Beverly Stock

There was a Pig that lay alone
__Beside a gnarly stump:
By day and night, he always moaned,
It would have stirred a heart of stone
To see him wring his hoofs and groan
__Because he could not jump.

A certain Camel heard him shout,
__A Camel with a hump.
“Oh, is it Grief, or is it Gout?
What is this bellowing about?”
That Pig replied, with quivering snout,
__“Because I cannot jump!”

That Camel scanned him, dreamy-eyed.
__“Methinks you are too plump.
I never knew a Pig so wide,
That wobbled so from side to side,
Who could, however much he tried,
__Do such a thing as jump!

Camel saw some trees, two miles away,
__All clustered in a clump:
“If you could trot there twice a day,
Nor ever pause for rest or play,
In the far future—who can say,
__You may be fit to jump.”

That Camel passed and left him there,
__Beside the gnarly stump.
Oh, horrid was that Pig’s despair!
His shrieks of anguish filled the air.
He wrung his hoofs; he rent his hair
__Because he could not jump.

There was a Frog that wandered by,
__A sleek and shining lump:
Inspected him with his fishy eye,
And said, “O Pig, what makes you cry?”
And bitter was that Pig’s reply,
__“BECAUSE I CANNOT JUMP!”

“You may be faint from many a fall,
__And bruised by many a bump:
But, if you persevere through all,
And practice first on something small,
Concluding with a ten-foot wall,
__You’ll find that you can jump!”

That Pig looked up with a joyful start:
__“Oh Frog, you have triumphed!
Your words have healed my inward smart,
Come, watch me try, then do your part:
Bring comfort to a broken heart
__By teaching me to jump!”

After that, Pig rushed full whack,
__And leaped the gnarly stump:
Rolled over like an empty sack
And settled down upon his back
While all his bones at once went “Crack!”
__It was a fatal jump.

That Pig lay still as any stone
__And did not scar the stump:
Nor ever if the truth were known
Was he again observed to moan
Nor ever wring his hoofs and groan,
__Because he could not jump.

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7 Responses

  1. Paul Freeman

    That jump
    has left a lump
    as big as a boat
    in my throat.

    Thanks for the entertaining read, Beverly.

    Reply
  2. Cheryl Corey

    I never knew that Lewis Carroll was a pen name. Your poem makes me want to read more of his work, just for fun. Perhaps you should write more fables. You seem to have a knack for it.

    Reply
  4. Jan Darling

    Thank you, Beverly. I believe that this kind of fun, rhythmic and rhyming poetry is a splendid way to introduce children to the idea that poetry is (simply) another way to tell a story. Too many children leave their school years still thinking of poetry as stuffy, irrelevant and from a distant world. I want to see a world where, through constant exposure, children learn to love poetry and look forward to its different forms and find it as easy to access as prose. It is a delightful way to extend vocabularies and improve comprehension. Personally I am very fond of Pigs, especially Poetic ones, and I’ve never found it particularly virtuous to know how to jump. On recollection, I’ve never met a grumpy pig, either. Thank you Beverly – please keep writing fun stuff. There’s a generation of two to twelve year olds who are being starved of it.

    Reply
  5. C.B. Anderson

    Nicely done, Beverly! Both parts of Carrol’s opus were assigned reading in my Freshman English class at Wesleyan University, and though I don’t think I’ve ever read the original poem you have adapted, your adaptation rings vitally true. I am also quite impressed with Dodgson’s contributions to abstract mathematics.

    Reply
  6. Norma Pain

    Beverly, I absolutely loved your funny pig poem, and since you included a frog in the story, (I am a huge frog-lover), this poem was perfect. Thank you for making me smile…. a lot!

    Reply

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