The Blind Men and the Elephant by John Godfrey Saxe

When he would get into a whimsical mood, he would grab his nearest child- usually Sunny, once his other children got old enough to find this embarrassing- and bounce them up and down on his lap while he recited it. The poem was a favorite of Bertrand Baudelaire. The poem was sung by Natalie Merchant on her album Leave Your Sleep. It is seen as a metaphor for the dangers of arguing something you do not have the full knowledge of. It is based on an Indian parable prominent in Buddhist, Hindu and Jain cultures. The poem was written by John Godfrey Saxe, an American poet who was born 2 June 1816 and died 31 March 1887.

Each sestet follows its own ABABAB rhyme scheme. The poem is written in nine sestets in Common Meter- alternating between one line in Trochaic Octameter (eight syllables) and one in Iambic Trimeter (six syllables.) It follows the iambic stress pattern of unstressed/stressed syllables.

The First approach'd the Elephant, And happening to fall Against his broad and sturdy side, At once began to bawl: 'God bless me! but the Elephant Is very like a wall!' The Second, feeling of the tusk, Cried, -'Ho! what have we here So very round and smooth and sharp? To me 'tis mighty clear, This wonder of an Elephant Is very like a spear!' The Third approach'd the animal, And happening to take The squirming trunk within his hands, Thus boldly up and spake: 'I see,' -quoth he- 'the Elephant Is very like a snake!' The Fourth reached out an eager hand, And felt about the knee: 'What most this wondrous beast is like Is mighty plain,' -quoth he,- ''Tis clear enough the Elephant Is very like a tree!' The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear, Said- 'E'en the blindest man Can tell what this resembles most Deny the fact who can, This marvel of an Elephant Is very like a fan!' The Sixth no sooner had begun About the beast to grope, Then, seizing on the swinging tail That fell within his scope, 'I see,' -quoth he,- 'the Elephant Is very like a rope!' And so these men of Indostan Disputed loud and long, Each in his own opinion Exceeding stiff and strong, Though each was partly in the right, And all were in the wrong! So, oft in theologic wars The disputants, I ween, Rail on in utter ignorance Of what each other mean And prate about an Elephant Not one of them has seen! Poetic Form

Poem The Blind Men and the Elephant It was six men of Indostan To learning much inclined, Who went to see the Elephant (Though all of them were blind), That each by observation Might satisfy his mind.

3 Usage in A Series of Unfortunate Events.

The Blind Men and the Elephant by John Godfrey Saxe