The Generals by Shel Silverstein
I recently hear the poem The Generals by Shel Silverstein on Laugh USA on XM Radio of all places. This poem sums up my thoughts about war quite nicely. The poem is from his book of children’s poetry titled Where the Sidewalk Ends which was first read to me in elementary school. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy his poem as much as I did:
The Generals
Said General Clay to General Gore,
“Oh must we fight this silly war?
To kill and die is such a bore.”
“I quite agree,” said General Gore.
Said General Gore to General Clay,
“We could go to the beach today
And have some ice cream on the way.”
“A grand idea,” said General Clay.
Said General Clay to General Gore,
“We’ll build sand castles on the shore.”
Said General Gore, “We’ll splash and play.”
“Let’s leave right now,” said General Clay.
Said General Gore so General Clay,
“But what if the sea is closed today?
And what if the sand’s been blown away?”
“A dreadful thought,” said General Clay.
Said General Gore to General Clay,
“I’ve always feared the ocean’s spray,
And we may drown!” “It’s true, we may.
It chills my blood,” said General Clay.
Said General Clay to General Gore,
“My bathing suit is slightly tore.
We’d better to on with our war.”
“I quite agree,” said General Gore.
Then General Clay charged General Gore
As bullets flew and cannons roared.
And now, alas! there is no more
Of General Clay or General Gore.
Filed under: Life | Tagged: peace, poetry, shel silverstein, war
Great fun!
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Brilliant - shame they didn’t just go to the beach and stay there though!
Thanks for the award Diane. I really appreciate it.
Absolute Vanilla (and Atyllah) - that would’ve been great if they just went to the beach, but that’s not what those type do, is it?
That is such a wonderfully comic and tragic poem. Shel Silversein was brilliant. My sons adored all his books. I never took a really close look at them, so thanks for posting this particular poem. And thanks for commenting on my site!
wow, what a surprise ending.
SzélsőFa - yeah, it’s a surprise ending, but that’s what generals and the like do. They fight. Unfortunate but true.
Posted a ficlet! My username is curbxstomp. I think. I don’t know yet. Anyway, I did a sequel and then I did, “Modern Day Merlin” because I thought of it during math.
I love Shel Silverstein.
curbxstomp
Sounds a little like the Walrus and the Carpenter. They too went to the beach, talked about some fun nice things and then did something downright nasty.
Great find, thanks for sharing. I always thought of him as a children’s poet, but this is interesting.