Robinson Crusoe
is a novel by the English author Daniel Defoe which was published in 1712, long before Charles Edward Carryl was
born, and was based upon the life of Scottish castaway, William
Selkirk. Carryl's poetical spin on the tale captures the spirit of
the castaway's desire to master the environment in which he has landed and
to impose upon it his own idea of proper society.
The night was thick and hazy
When the "Piccadilly Daisy"
Carried down the crew and captain in the sea;
And I think the water drowned 'em;
For they never, never found 'em,
And I know they didn't come ashore with me.
Oh! 'twas very sad and lonely
When I found myself the only
Population on this cultivated shore;
But I've made a little tavern
In a rocky little cavern
And I sit and watch for people at the door.
I spent no time in looking
For a girl to do my cooking,
As I'm quite a clever hand at making stews;
But I had that fellow Friday,
Just to keep the tavern tidy,
And to put a Sunday polish on my shoes.
I have a little garden
That I'm cultivating lard in,
As the things I eat are rather tough and dry;
For I live on toasted lizards,
Prickly pears, and parrot gizzards,
And I'm really very fond of beetle-pie.
The clothes I had were furry,
And it made me fret and worry
When I found the moths were eating off the hairs;
And I had to scrape and sand 'em,
And I boiled 'em and I tanned 'em,
Till I got the fine morocco suit I wear.
I sometimes seek diversion
In a family excursion
With the few domestic animals you see;
And we take along a carrot
As refreshment for the parrot,
And a little can of jungleberry tea.
Then we gather as we travel,
Bits of moss and dirty gravel,
And we chip off little specimens of stone;
And we carry home as prizes
Funny bugs, of handy sizes,
Just to give the day a scientific tone.
If the roads are wet and muddy,
We remain at home and study, --
For the Goat is very clever at a sum, --
And the Dog, instead of fighting,
Studies ornamental writing,
While the cat is taking lessons on the drum.
We retire at eleven,
And we rise again at seven;
And I wish to call attention, as I close,
To the fact that all the scholars
Are correct about their collars,
And particular in turning out their toes.
At the end of the nineteenth century, Charles Carryl was hailed
as the American Lewis Carroll. Carryl's Davy and the Goblin
expanded the realm of possibility in American fantasy for children when it first
appeared in serial in 1884.
is a novel by the English author Daniel Defoe which was published in 1712, long before Charles Edward Carryl was
born, and was based upon the life of Scottish castaway, William
Selkirk. Carryl's poetical spin on the tale captures the spirit of
the castaway's desire to master the environment in which he has landed and
to impose upon it his own idea of proper society.
