The Hippopotamus -- Ogden Nash

I never knew there were so many hippopotamusings in the world...

(Poem #848) The Hippopotamus Behold the hippopotamus! We laugh at how he looks to us, And yet in moments dank and grim, I wonder how we look to him. Peace, peace, thou hippopotamus! We really look all right to us, As you no doubt delight the eye Of other hippopotami. -- Ogden Nash

It's fitting that the last word [1] on hippos should fall to Ogden Nash; the
hippo is nothing if not a Nash creature, an improbability on four legs. And
yet, as the poet points out, we humans must look equally absurd in its eyes:
thin-skinned, anorexic, and always on the verge of falling over...

On a purely technical note, I do think the poem would have been better had
Nash stopped after the first quatrain. The second stanza needlessly
belabours the joke of the first, while not adding much in the way of humour.
Or maybe that's just me.

thomas.

[1] Yes, this really is the last poem in this theme. Really.

[Minstrels Links]

Poem #124, "The Hippopotamus",  Hilaire Belloc
Poem #844, "The Hippopotamus", Oliver Herford
Poem #845, "Recipe for a Hippopotamus Sandwich", Shel Silverstein
Poem #846, "The Hippopotamus", T. S. Eliot
Poem #847, "On the Death of Smet-Smet, the Hippopotamus-Goddess", Rupert
Brooke

[Thanks]

I'm back online after a fortnight spent travelling; my thanks go to Martin
and various guest Minstrels for covering while I was away.

[EndNote]

Hippopotami really is the plural of hippopotamus (though hippopotamuses is
also acceptable).