(Poem #1784) Thinking of Russia I'm always thinking of Russia I can't keep her out of my head. I don't give a damn for Uncle Sham. I'm a left wing radical Red. |
(c. 1932) I first read this amusing little ditty over a decade ago, quoted (without attribution) in a newspaper opinion piece. I've been searching for it on and off ever since, and finally found a reference to it via google (I love the internet!). As an unexpected bonus, I found it embedded in an excellent review (see links) of Harold Bloom's "The Best Poems of the English Language", where the reviewer, Cary Nelson, has this to say: And, finally, like many steeped in high literary traditions, I have some favorite pieces of doggerel whose capacity to burlesque literary ambition and bring it down to earth is a necessary cultural and personal antidote. My all-time favorite remains H. H. Lewis's "Thinking of Russia". I agree with Nelson - this is indeed a brilliant piece of verse. It has that indefinable quality called "catchiness", which is sadly missing from most classroom discussions of literary theory, but which is nonetheless a very real measure of a poem's merits (witness the fact that I remembered it fifteen years after seeing it quoted). Some combination of the easy metre, the deliciously irreverent tone and the wonderfully rhythmic phrase "left wing radical red" make this a poem far more timeless than its overtly political content would suggest. It might never make the pages of Bloom's august tome, but I'm more than happy to run it here. martin [Links] The Bloom review: http://www.vqronline.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/8880
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