'A Book of Nonsense'

For the past few months, I've been wading through the masses of unread books that have sat on my shelves for so long that I'd almost forgotten them. There were about thirty books that I'd either forgotten, started and got bored of, or that had originally been put on my shelves by my mum when her bookshelves overflowed, back when I was little and had very few books of my own. Because I have an unfortunate habit of being unable to walk past a bookshop without going in, and another habit of being unable to go into a bookshop without buying a book, I end up buying books at about the same rate that I read them.

However, I've been forcing myself not to buy as many books recently, so the eternal pile of unread books has shrunk to just nine novels, two non-fiction books, a biography, an epic poem, a collection of short stories, and the complete works of Oscar Wilde. Phew!

The last book I read is one of those displaced onto my shelves when I was a kid: 'A Book of Nonsense', containing poems and stories by Edward Lear, Lewis Carroll, and others. Many of the stories had very obvious morals, as with a story about a girl who played with matches and ended up being burnt alive. But the poems, in particular the limericks, seemed entirely without point.

Certain poems used nonsense words -- that is, words made up by the poet to add more confusion and silliness to the verse. Others use totally recognisable lexis in a phrasing that renders the words meaningless. It is, of course, perfectly possible that these nonsense poems exist only to entertain; after all, they are very often targeted at children. But there may be more to it than that.

My own opinion is that nonsense verse emphasises the power of words; we're so used to seeing words in an order that makes logical sense that nonsense is surprising and strange to us. I think nonsense opens our eyes to the fact that we have control over the way we choose to use words, which frees our imagination up to do what it wants. Nonsense poetry pushes the boundaries of what we might call literature, but it doesn't stand up and announce it as so much fiction does. The impact of nonsense verse is a subtly encroaching tide rather than a tidal wave, but it seeps into the mind nonetheless.

Whether or not you find it entertaining, I recommend searching for a little nonsense, as you might find it quite as useful as sense.