Daddy Fell Into The Pond by Alfred Noyes.

I was going to start off by saying that this poem isn't a masterpiece, but as it's been giving me joy for getting on for half a century I think that actually it must be.

We didn't have a gardener when I was little, and my daddy never fell into the pond. But this poem, as all the very best poems do, gave me a sense of possibility: not necessarily of my daddy actually falling in the pond, but that the world might yield comparable delights.

Daddy Fell Into The Pond

 

by

 

Alfred Noyes

 

Everyone grumbled. The sky was grey.
We had nothing to do and nothing to say.
We were nearing the end of a dismal day,
And there seemed to be nothing beyond,
THEN
Daddy fell into the pond!

And everyone's face grew merry and bright,
And Timothy danced for sheer delight.
"Give me the camera, quick, oh quick!
He's crawling out of the duckweed."
Click!

Then the gardener suddenly slapped his knee,
And doubled up, shaking silently,
And the ducks all quacked as if they were daft
And it sounded as if the old drake laughed.
O, there wasn't a thing that didn't respond
WHEN
Daddy fell into the pond!

 

Word To Use Today: pond. This is a rather staid sort of a word, though redeemed by the ease with which it can be mis-typed pong.  It's been around since the 1200s, when it meant enclosure. It's related to the word pound.