Page 7 - Poetry-Family

Introduction

o you have a family? Whether it’s the one you grew up in or
the one you’ve created as your very own, you know that
D
family life has one thing in common everywhere: Chaos! No
matter how hard we strive for order and calm, disorder seems to
be the rule of the day. And it’s a bit comforting to realize that this
is nothing new; family chaos was not only well known in Victorian
days, but the subject of some truly wonderful poetry!
There is, for example, the chaos of raising children. Is your
home the residence of “That Boy” or “That Girl”? If so, chances
are you’ll recognize their Victorian counterparts in these pages.
As for the baby, is it not still “The Bald-Headed Tyrant,” the
supreme monarch of the household? Life may seem simpler
“Before the Baby Came,” but before you know it, the child has
turned “Fourteen” and everything has changed...
Spouses were another wonderful topic for the Victorian
versifier. Here you’ll meet the unflappable “Patient Mercy Jones,”
find out who is truly the “Head of the House,” and discover why
the children seem to prefer “Little Mamma.”
Spouses are also quite often responsible for home
improvements—like Sary, who determines to make her country
home more like a city dwelling (but beware of the lynx!), or the
unnamed wife who coaxes her husband to acquire the painting,
“The Old Oaken Bucket.” Moving house and cleaning house are
also inevitable sources of chaos—and poetry. This collection also
offers some thoughts on cooking, cleaning, the troubles of trying
to compose a poem while managing the children, life with and
without servants, and the problems of temporary bachelorhood.
The poems in this collection come from a variety of British
and American periodicals, as well as a host of Victorian scrap
albums. Where possible, they are presented in chronological
order; however, poetry from scrap albums is rarely dated, so I
simply tuck them in wherever they seem to fit the best.
So now, I invite you to enjoy this rare glimpse of Victorian
family life at its chaotic and poetic best. It looks a great deal like
our own!

—Moira Allen

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