Peas

 

Peas - (2010)    

Anonymous

for medium voice and piano

 

I eat my peas with honey;
I've done it all my life.
It makes the peas taste funny,
But it keeps them on the knife.

[ 1 page, 30" ]

 

A friend in London, Julie Dalton Williamson, works with graphics and placed a calligraphic image on her site, Sketcherie, the other day. I'd never known this silly little poetic gem, and quickly set it to send to her as my musical amusement to her posting. She shot back her literary and musicological criticism, as follows: "Oh! Arrr harrr harr harr!!!"  [ 1 ]

 

The Poetry Foundation notes on their site that "This poem was recited on the February 2, 1944 broadcast of the radio program 'It Pays to Be Ignorant.' According to the Estate of Shel Silverstein and the archivists who oversee his literary works and manuscripts, Shel Silverstein did not write this poem." Who is to argue with that, huh?

 

Notes of clusters of little black notes might be visualized as....

 

 

The score for Peas is available as a free PDF download, though any major commercial performance or recording of the work is prohibited without prior arrangement with the composer. Click on the graphic below for this piano-vocal score.

 

Peas

                    

NOTES

 

[ 1 ]    Turnabout is supposed to be fair play, so I added this rhymed comment to her site: 

 

I drink my beer with a seatbelt,

Though some folks think it odd.

It keeps me upright as I drink,

Or else I'd fall, by God!

 

Copyright © 2010 Gary Bachlund    All international rights reserved.