Books Worth Reading: A collection of poetry, Who Has Seen the Wind?

Who has seen the wind?

Neither I nor you:

But when the leaves hang trembling,

The wind is passing through.

Who has seen the wind?

Neither you nor I:

But when the trees bow down their heads,

The wind is passing by.

              -Christina Rossetti

A collection of poetry and art, Who Has Seen the Wind? An Illustrated Collection of Poetry for Young People takes its title from the Christina Rossetti poem. The artwork is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

What makes Who Has Seen the Wind? different from many similar collections of poetry for children is the thematic pairing of paintings and verse. 37 well-known, short poems are enhanced by reproductions of paintings, many of them full-page. Most of the paintings draw from 19^th and 20^th century, providing visual continuity and cohesion. Though, there are a few exceptions, which mar the overall aesthetic.

The book includes paintings by Cassatt, Homer, Gauguin, Manet, Pissarro, Rackham, Renoir, and several from Monet.

Some of the poems are renowned among poems for children, including At the Seaside by Robert Louis Stevenson and The Tyger by William Blake. Many of the poems, however, are not the first one that would come to mind for the poet, such the inclusion of The Snow by Emily Dickinson and The Pasture by Robert Frost.

Some more whimsical additions include poems by Christopher Morley and some lesser known poets. Eleanor Farjeon’s Cats is a delight:

Cats sleep

Anywhere,

Any table,

Any chair,

Top of piano,

Window-ledge,

In the middle,

On the edge,

Open drawer,

Empty shoe,

Anybody’s

Lap will do

Fitted in a

Cardboard box,

In the cupboard

With your frocks—

Anywhere!

They don’t care!

Cats sleep

Anywhere

As is Ogden Nash’s The Lion:

Oh, weep for Mr and Mrs Bryan!

He was eaten by a lion;

Following which, the lion’s lioness

Up and swallowed Bryan’s Bryaness.

Fun romps like these short poems that one is unlikely to stumble across is stuffy anthologies make Who Has Seen the Wind? worthwhile. The collection does not seek to be a comprehensive resource on English verse for children but is instead a playful grouping that can be opened and enjoyed at random.

In the introduction, the unnamed editor attempts to explain how poetry and painting seek to capture a moment. “Each one takes a very special moment and freezes it in time. Poetry does it with words and with sound. Poems have an almost musical quality. Paintings bring the world to life with color and brushstrokes. Sometimes we feel we could almost walk into a picture and live there!” This simple observation is worth iterating and reflects a certain view of the purpose of art that undergird much of the collection.

It appears that the collection ran afoul of the politically correct police, receiving dismal reviews. One reviewer took issue with the “slightly condescending introduction.” The introduction is rather simplistic, but not to the point of condescension. Even for the worldly adult, pausing to consider the purpose of art, simple as it may ultimately be, is worthwhile.

It doesn’t end there, though. According to the incensed reviewer, “[T]his collection’s pairings are often obvious, sometimes trite, and–with few exceptions–do not create anything new to transcend the parts.” Having a series of poems about cats paired with paintings of cats is really not so unbearable or trite. The reviewer goes on, “They are even confusing at times–in the Monet that illustrates `’Who Has Seen the Wind,’ there is no evidence of any disturbance of the air.” So if they are too thematically similar they are dismissed but if there is not obvious one-to-one correspondence between the painting and poem, that is also dismissed.

The crux of the reviewer’s complaint comes when she asserts, “Overall, this book is more likely to appeal to adults than children, as it presents an old-fashioned, sentimental view of childhood.” There’s nothing particularly old-fashioned about a young child examining a baby or musing about cats or dogs. Experience demonstrates children do enjoy the collection. Masters of English verse offer rich and melodic listening for young children and realism and beauty provide a feast for the eyes. Not much is ugly and there is little political or radical about the collection. It seems this is a drawback for some, but for this reviewer it is highly favorable.