The Benefits of Comical Writing

By Libby Spencer, junior English major at Silver Lake College

Last year on the morning of April 1^st I woke up anticipating any jokes that were about to be thrown my way.  After being pranked by my mother the two previous years that deer were in our small city backyard, I was committed to not falling for it this year.  As I trotted down the stairs I suddenly had to stop as I heard my mother excitedly calling my older brother to the back bay windows as she squealed, “Look at the deer back here!”  You already know what came next.  His chair pushed against the tightly knit carpet as he quickly sprang out of his seat.  His pounding steps got faster as he ran over to the windows, and as I heard my mother’s light shuffle away from the windows I could just picture her face with a little smirk on it.  Her petite shoulders would be bouncing up and down trying to contain her laughter.  I can remember smiling to myself on the stairs as I soaked in the sweet success of finally not being the culprit to my mother’s harmless prank.  At that moment, I started my search for the perfect prank and found myself at a loss until I remembered that I could try comical writing.  Writing, especially poetry, can be a great way to express sarcasm and witty ideas.  A poet that displays this sense of humorous writing is Mervyn Peake.

Mervyn Peake was an English modernist writer, artist, poet and illustrator.  Although he is most known for his novel, Titus Groan, he has also produced numerous poems.  Many of them are comical.  It is said that his comic writings are full of philosophy and his serious work is full of humor.  He has this way of blending various emotions to connect to his audience.  A poem that demonstrates this comical writing is titled, The Trouble with Geraniums.

The Trouble With Geraniums by Mervyn Peake

The trouble with geraniums
is that they’re much too red!
The trouble with my toast is that
it’s far too full of bread.

The trouble with a diamond
is that it’s much too bright.
The same applies to fish and stars
and the electric light.

The troubles with the stars I see
lies in the way they fly.
The trouble with myself is all
self-centred in the eye.

The trouble with my looking-glass
is that it shows me, me;
there’s trouble in all sorts of things
where it should never be.

While reading this, I found a constant smirk on my face with every topic twist he wrote about.   At first I thought the poem to be a little pointless; it seemed to lack a purpose.  As I kept reading I realized the purpose is communicating his “peeves”.  He has the uncanny ability to turn these peeves into humor.   I believe through this whimsical poem you are able to experience the natural ability Peake has to produce poetry that really makes you think and contemplate everyday, ordinary items.  Poetry is a way for readers and writers to express creativity and uniqueness, but it is really something more.  It can even be a way to channel frustrations or peeves like Peake did with the geraniums and bread.  Comical writing can be beneficial even when going through a difficult experience or if you’re having trouble grappling serious topics.  But, best of all, comical poetry can be a way to express that sarcastic, unnerving side.  This April Fools Day I encourage you to experiment with that sarcastic side of yourself and create poetry that will question the way others think. 

Libby Spencer is a junior at Silver Lake College.  She is majoring in English (with an emphasis in Writing) and minoring in Spanish.  She enjoys spending time with her family, coaching and participating in sports, and of course, writing.