ABSTRACT
There is a wonderful plethora of humorous verse for children. Some masters of this genre come instantly to mind, such as Michael Rosen, Spike Milligan, Benjamin Zephaniah and Kit Wright. Humorous verse can engage children who are otherwise ambivalent to poetry, and such poetry often makes a serious point. Colin McNaughton’s poem ‘Are we nearly there yet?’ comes to mind, which simply repeats the two lines: ‘Mummy are we there yet, / Are we nearly there?’ (McNaughton, 2000) so that they ‘fall off’ the margin of the page, indicating the infinity of a rant that tortures parent drivers. Zephaniah (1994) has wonderful, rootsy work such as his poem ‘Talking Turkeys’, but underlying the humour in this poem are messages about imprisonment, genetic farming and cruelty. Other poets cleverly celebrate the absurd, such as Brian Moses, an imaginative and humorous poet whose work begs to be read aloud. As a musician he is very aware of the sound quality of his poems, which have their own unwritten score. There is an excellent opportunity to hear his work, and that of others, on the Poetry Archive (www.poetryarchive.org). At this site, children are able to hear the poet’s voice and their unique interpretation.
