by Belloc · Cluster: Comic Verse · Childhood · Satire

Abstract

A collection of mock-moral comic verses in which naughty or vain children meet grotesque, exaggerated fates (eaten by lions, burned, shot) as punishment for small faults. Belloc parodies the earnest Victorian cautionary-tale tradition, the deadpan solemnity of the verse heightening the absurd cruelty of the outcomes.

Capitoli / Chapters

Connections

Forms & Genres: Comic Verse Song, Parody, Poem Themes & Concepts: Childhood And Growth, Crime and Punishment, Nonsense, Exaggeration, Satire of Society, Vanity Motifs: Death, Animals, Childhood, Gallows, Fire Settings: Rural England Archetypes: Child Topoi: Memento Mori