{"id":2579,"date":"2010-08-19T06:11:41","date_gmt":"2010-08-19T10:11:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eachdayisacelebration.com\/?p=2579"},"modified":"2010-08-20T09:21:04","modified_gmt":"2010-08-20T13:21:04","slug":"father-and-daughter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eachdayisacelebration.com\/?p=2579","title":{"rendered":"Father and Daughter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here is a sketch from a past beach vacation, which is when our family customarily plays lots of card games. (We are all especially addicted to La Belle Lucie.) A doting father is so tolerant of a girl\u2019s little foibles. Like cheating at Go Fish.<\/p>\n

In honor of Ogden Nash (1902-1971), whose birthday it is today, I post his poem, \u201cSong To Be Sung by the Father of Infant Female Children.\u201d At one time my son wouldn’t have been amused by its depiction of boys. Now, as a big brother, he also has morphed into fatherly protective mode.<\/p>\n

\"J&EGoFish\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

My heart leaps up when I behold<\/span><\/address>\n
A rainbow in the sky;<\/span><\/address>\n
Contrariwise, my blood runs cold<\/span><\/address>\n
When little boys go by.<\/span><\/address>\n
For little boys as little boys,<\/span><\/address>\n
No special hate I carry,<\/span><\/address>\n
But now and then they grow to men,<\/span><\/address>\n
And when they do, they marry.<\/span><\/address>\n
No matter how they tarry,<\/span><\/address>\n
Eventually they marry.<\/span><\/address>\n
And, swine among the pearls,<\/span><\/address>\n
They marry little girls.<\/span><\/address>\n
<\/span><\/address>\n
Oh, somewhere, somewhere, an infant plays,<\/span><\/address>\n
With parents who feed and clothe him.<\/span><\/address>\n
Their lips are sticky with pride and praise,<\/span><\/address>\n
But I have begun to loathe him.<\/span><\/address>\n
Yes, I loathe with loathing shameless<\/span><\/address>\n
This child who to me is nameless.<\/span><\/address>\n
This bachelor child in his carriage<\/span><\/address>\n
Gives never a thought to marriage,<\/span><\/address>\n
But a person can hardly say knife<\/span><\/address>\n
Before he will hunt him a wife.<\/span><\/address>\n
<\/span><\/address>\n
I never see an infant (male),<\/span><\/address>\n
A-sleeping in the sun,<\/span><\/address>\n
Without I turn a trifle pale<\/span><\/address>\n
And think is he the one?<\/span><\/address>\n
Oh, first he\u2019ll want to crop his curls,<\/span><\/address>\n
And then he\u2019ll want a pony,<\/span><\/address>\n
And then he\u2019ll think of pretty girls,<\/span><\/address>\n
And holy matrimony.<\/span><\/address>\n
A cat without a mouse<\/span><\/address>\n
Is he without a spouse.<\/span><\/address>\n
<\/span><\/address>\n
Oh, somewhere he bubbles bubbles of milk,<\/span><\/address>\n
And quietly sucks his thumbs.<\/span><\/address>\n
His cheeks are roses painted on silk,<\/span><\/address>\n
And his teeth are tucked in his gums.<\/span><\/address>\n
But alas the teeth will begin to grow,<\/span><\/address>\n
And the bubbles will cease to bubble;<\/span><\/address>\n
Given a score of years or so,<\/span><\/address>\n
The roses will turn to stubble.<\/span><\/address>\n
He\u2019ll sell a bond, or he\u2019ll write a book,<\/span><\/address>\n
And his eyes will get that acquisitive look,<\/span><\/address>\n
And raging and ravenous for the kill,<\/span><\/address>\n
He\u2019ll boldly ask for the hand of Jill.<\/span><\/address>\n
This infant whose middle<\/span><\/address>\n
Is diapered still<\/span><\/address>\n
Will want to marry<\/span><\/address>\n
My daughter Jill.<\/span><\/address>\n
<\/span><\/address>\n
Oh sweet be his slumber and moist his middle!<\/span><\/address>\n
My dreams, I fear, are infanticiddle.<\/span><\/address>\n
A fig for embryo Lohengrins!<\/span><\/address>\n
I\u2019ll open all his safety pins,<\/span><\/address>\n
I\u2019ll pepper his powder, and salt his bottle,<\/span><\/address>\n
And give him readings from Aristotle.<\/span><\/address>\n
Sand for his spinach I\u2019ll gladly bring,<\/span><\/address>\n
And Tabasco sauce for his teething ring.<\/span><\/address>\n
Then perhaps he\u2019ll struggle through fire and water<\/span><\/address>\n
To marry somebody else\u2019s daughter.<\/span><\/address>\n

\u2014<\/em>Ogden Nash<\/em><\/p>\n

\"CakeSprinkles\"<\/a>Lucy<\/p>\n


\n<\/em><\/p>\n


\n<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here is a sketch from a past beach vacation, which is when our family customarily plays lots of card games. (We are all especially addicted to La Belle Lucie.) A doting father is so tolerant of a girl\u2019s little foibles. Like cheating at Go Fish. In honor of Ogden Nash (1902-1971), whose birthday it isRead more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[103,55,48,119,16,19,102],"class_list":["post-2579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sketchbook","tag-beach","tag-birthday","tag-ecs","tag-games","tag-jhs","tag-poem","tag-summer"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eachdayisacelebration.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eachdayisacelebration.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eachdayisacelebration.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eachdayisacelebration.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eachdayisacelebration.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2579"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/eachdayisacelebration.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2590,"href":"https:\/\/eachdayisacelebration.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2579\/revisions\/2590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eachdayisacelebration.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eachdayisacelebration.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eachdayisacelebration.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}