Ogden Nash’s Witty Animal Poems for Carnival of the Animals

Camille Saint-Saëns’ Le Carnaval des animaux (The Carnival of the Animals) is a celebrated orchestral suite, but its popular appeal was significantly boosted decades after its composition by the addition of whimsical verses. The delightful and enduring Poems By Ogden Nash About Animals, written specifically for this musical work, have become nearly inseparable from the score for many listeners, particularly in the English-speaking world. These verses transformed the listening experience, adding a layer of clever wordplay and humorous observation that perfectly complements the music’s character sketches.

The Story Behind Nash’s Animal Verses

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) composed his “Grand Zoological Fantasy” in 1886 as a private amusement. Fearing that the lighthearted, satirical nature of The Carnival of the Animals might detract from his standing as a serious composer, he prohibited public performances during his lifetime, with the sole exception of the serene movement, “The Swan.” The full suite only received its public premiere posthumously in 1922, quickly becoming one of his most famous and frequently performed compositions.

Camille Saint-Saëns, composer of The Carnival of the Animals

The idea to pair Saint-Saëns’ music with poetry emerged in the late 1940s. Goddard Lieberson, then head of Columbia Masterworks Records, and the conductor Andre Kostelanetz conceived of enhancing a new recording of the suite with custom-written verses. Their immediate and only choice for the poet was Ogden Nash (1902-1971), already renowned for his unconventional rhymes and humorous, satirical poetry often focusing on everyday life and human (or animal) foibles. For the narrator, they enlisted the multi-talented Noël Coward.

This collaboration between composer (posthumously), poet, and performer resulted in a landmark recording released in 1950. Nash’s verses provided witty introductions to each of Saint-Saëns’ musical portraits, creating a cohesive and highly entertaining work that captured the public’s imagination and introduced classical music to new audiences, including many children. The Ogden Nash animal poems remain a defining feature of many Carnival of the Animals recordings and performances today.

The Complete Poems by Ogden Nash for The Carnival of the Animals

Ogden Nash crafted a unique verse for each movement of Saint-Saëns’ suite, capturing the essence of the animals (and pianists!) depicted in the music with his signature wit and linguistic playfulness. Here is the full text of his contribution:

Introduction

Camille St. Saëns was wracked with pains
When people addressed him as “Saint Sains.”
He held the human race to blame
Because it could not pronounce his name.
So he turned with metronome and fife
To glorify other forms of life.
Be quiet, please, for here begins
His salute to feathers, furs, and fins.

Royal March of the Lion

The lion is the king of beasts
And husband of the lioness.
Gazelles and things on which he feasts
Address him as Your Highoness.
There are those who admire that roar of his
In the African jungles and veldts,
But I think, wherever a lion is,
I’d rather be somewhere else.

Hens and Roosters

The rooster is a roistering hoodlum,
His battle cry is cock-a-doodlum.
Hands in pockets, cap over eye,
He whistles at pullets passing by.

Wild Jackass (Onager)

Have ever you harked to the jackass wild
Which scientists call the onager?
It sounds like the laugh of an idiot child
Or a hepcat on a harmoniger.
But do not sneer at the jackass wild,
There is method in his heehaw,
For with maidenly blush and accent mild,
The jenny-ass answers, shee-haw.

Tortoises

Come crown my brow with leaves of myrtle,
I know the tortoise is a turtle.
Come carve my name in stone immortal,
I know the turtoise is a tortle.
I know to my profound despair
I bet on one to beat a hare.
I also know I’m now a pauper
Because of its tortley, turtley, torpor.

The Elephant

Elephants are useful friends,
Equipped with handles at both ends.
They have a wrinkled moth-proof hide;
Their teeth are upside down, outside.
If you think the elephant preposterous,
You’ve probably never seen a rhinosterous.

Kangaroos

The kangaroo can jump incredible.
He has to jump because he’s edible.
I could not eat a kangaroo
But many fine Australians do.
Those with cookbooks as well as boomerangs
Prefer him in tasty kangaroo meringues.

The Aquarium

Some fish are minnows,
Some are whales.
People like dimples,
Fish like scales.
Some fish are slim,
And some are round.
They don’t get cold,
They don’t get drowned.
But every fish wife
Fears for her fish.
What we call mermaids
And they call merfish.

Mules (Personages with Long Ears)

In the world of mules,
There are no rules.

The Cuckoo in the Depth of the Woods

Cuckoos lead bohemian lives,
They fail as husbands and as wives.
Therefore, they cynically disparage
Everybody else’s marriage.

The Birds (Aviary)

Puccini was Latin, and Wagner Teutonic,
And birds are incurably philharmonic.
Suburban yards and rural vistas
Are filled with avian Andrews Sisters.
The skylark sings a roundelay,
The crow sings “The Road to Mandalay.”
The nightingale sings a lullaby,
And the seagull sings a gullaby.
That’s what shepherds listened to in Arcadia
Before somebody invented the radia.

Pianists

Some claim that pianists are human,
And quote the case of Mr. Truman.
St. Saëns, upon the other hand,
Considered them a scurvy band.
Ape-like they are, he said, and simian,
Instead of normal men and wimian.

Fossils

At midnight in the museum hall,
The fossils gathered for a ball.
There were no drums or saxophones,
But just the clatter of their bones,
A rolling, rattling, carefree circus
Of mammoth polkas and mazurkas.
Pterodactyls and brontosauruses
Sang ghostly prehistoric choruses.
Amid the mastodonic wassail,
I caught the eye of one small fossil.
Cheer up, sad world, he said, and winked.
It’s kind of fun to be extinct.

The Swan

The swan can swim while sitting down.
For pure conceit he takes the crown.
He looks in the mirror over and over,
And claims to have never heard of Pavlova.

Finale

Now we reach the grand finale,
Animale, carnivale.
Noises new to sea and land
Issue from the skillful band.
All the strings contort their features,
Imitating crawly creatures.
All the brasses look like mumps
From blowing umpah umpah umps.
In outdoing Barnum and Bailey and Ringling,
St. Saëns has done a miraculous thingling.

Conclusion

Ogden Nash’s contribution to Saint-Saëns’ The Carnival of the Animals is a masterclass in humorous verse, perfectly tailored to the spirit of the music. These Poems By Ogden Nash About Animals (and birds, fish, fossils, and even pianists) added a narrative dimension that enhanced the suite’s accessibility and charm. Nash’s witty observations, surprising rhymes, and playful language cemented the work’s place in popular culture, ensuring that his verses are often recalled alongside Saint-Saëns’ memorable melodies. The enduring popularity of the Nash/Saint-Saëns pairing is a testament to the successful marriage of music and poetry, continuing to entertain audiences of all ages.