Happiness

 John had
 Great Big
 Waterproof
 Boots on;
 John had a
 Great Big
 Waterproof
 Hat;
 John had a
 Great Big
 Waterproof
 Mackintosh --
 And that
 (Said John)
 Is
 That.

Commentary

I like this poem because of the simple way it rolls off the tongue. It’s orderly because of its simplicity and non-verbosity.

Robert Fulghum has this to say about this poem in his book Words I Wish I Wrote: “If you live for a long time, as I have, in the Pacific Northwest, where it rains all winter long, you cherish the feeling of being warm and dry and still out in the weather. This poem expresses that sense of well-being. A child understands. In the quest for God, when you find out there there is nowhere God is not and that you are as much a part of the universe as the
farthest star, you have a sense of well-being not unlike the child in this poem. That is that. I often recited this to my children before a meal or at bedtime. It’s not a prayer. It’s a state of being, understood by a child of six or sixty.”

That, I think, is all the analysis that is needed. :)

— Mel

Minstrels Links

A. A. Milne:
Poem #91, Cottleston Pie
Poem #463, Disobedience
Poem #562, The King’s Breakfast
Poem #576, Tra-la-la, tra-la-la
Poem #1022, Buckingham Palace
Poem #1051, Happiness

The Wondering Minstrels, poem #1051 · 10 May 2002

Guest poem submitted by M. E. Lasseter

Fair use

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From the Wondering Minstrels mailing list, 1999–2008.

Jeff Berndt · 10 May 2002

There’s a saying that this poem reminds me of–I wish I could remember who said it first:

“No matter how big your umbrella or how good your raincoat, when it rains, you are going to get wet.”

Thanks for this poem. It cheered me up on an otherwise not especially good day.

All the best,

Jeff Berndt

Axbey Stephen · 12 May 2002

I think it’s altogether much more analysis than is needed ! Specifically I think that God is extraneous to understanding this one, and His appearance here tells us more about Robert Fulgham than it does about AAMilne or his poem. Sometimes a whale is just a whale.

charming poem though…

John Hillyer · 23 June 2007

There is also the expression “there is no such thing as bad weather only the wrong clothes!” I hear d billy connolly say this so it must be true!