THE LITTLE BOY AND THE OLD MAN

Every now and then we come across a song or a poem and think, "Oh, this could be written for me!" And why not, lyricists and poets are people like us going about their daily chores but are blessed with a keen sense of observation and a marvellous gift of creating a song or a poem from what they observe.

We might come across daffodils, take pleasure in the sight and move on but it takes the genius of William Wordsworth to make a delightful poem about them. I just have to quote a few lines-

"I wandered lonely as a cloud....

When all at once I saw a crowd, a host of golden daffodils....

For oft when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye, which is the bliss of solitude,

And then my heart with pleasure fills, 

And dances with the daffodils."

Often on a walk, we come across the sign "Keep off the grass", grunt in disappointment and quietly take a detour. But not Rupert Brooke, who sitting in a cafe in Berlin in 1912, sees a sign "Betreten des Rasens verboten", gets homesick and thinks of the house in a village near Cambridge where he had lived. So he puts down his thoughts in a poem, "The Old Vicarage, Grantchester", recalling the meads near the house "Where das Betreten's not verboten."

Sometime back, I wrote a post saying I felt that the song, "I'm an Ordinary Man" from "My Fair Lady" was written by lyricists Lerner-Loewe for me. Now a friend sent me a poem, "The Little Boy and the Old Man" by Shel Silverstein; is the poet’s old man actually me? The quirks are the same! Here goes-

'Said the little boy ''Sometimes I drop my spoon".

Said the old man, ''I do that too.''

The little boy whispered, "I wet my pants."

"I do that too", laughed the little old man.

Said the little boy, I often cry."

The old man nodded, "So do I,"

But worst of all, said the boy,

"It seems grown-ups don't pay attention to me."

And felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand,

"I know what you mean" said the little old man.'

Life comes a full-circle!