Fairytales communicate through beasts and wild creatures in order to explore common experiences. As old as literature itself, the articulate, anthropomorphized beasts portrayed in stories are a tradition of childhood. Fairytales with beasts and animal fables are traced to ancient Greece, India, and Egypt. Aesop used ants, crows, ravens, monkeys, donkeys, and lions to bring to light the foolishness of the human condition.
The world of “wild” romance within fairy tales is also extensive. Beastly bridegrooms can take the figure of animals that would be considered threatening, such as bears, wolves, pigs, and wait for it— warthogs. Yes, you read it correctly. Author Walter Crane chose such a creature as the basis of his rich illustrations for Beauty and the Beast.
The crux of the story is that the outward appearance conceals the inner man and a decisive moment will reverse the beast’s fate and restore him to his original, princely self.
Try It: Fairytale Beasts Poetry
Use your wildest imagination and build a beast with a backstory. Who is he (or she)? What happened to change their appearance? What needs to happen to return them to their original form? Is there romance involved? Describe the unusual features of your beast and write a poem about their life and the lessons learned.
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Featured Poem
Thanks to everyone who participated in last week’s poetry prompt. Here is a poem from Laura we enjoyed:
Fear a furry foe?
Maybe in the wild. Here, child:
hold a fuzzy friend.
Photo by Ronnie McDonald. Creative Commons via Flickr.
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How to Write a Poem uses images like the buzz, the switch, the wave—from the Billy Collins poem “Introduction to Poetry”—to guide writers into new ways of writing poems. Excellent teaching tool. Anthology and prompts included.
“How to Write a Poem is a classroom must-have.”
—Callie Feyen, English Teacher, Maryland
Brandon Dubois Ezzard says
There’s an animal in all of us,
To find it, play hide-and-seek.
“You can run, you can hide,” it says,
“But you can’t hide from me.”
I have a tale which has two tails,
This tale of the Cherokee.
Some say it’s fact, some say it’s fiction,
But a figment of our beliefs,
See, there is a good wolf and a bad wolf, which
Constantly compete.
Will the good wolf or the bad wolf live?
Well, depends on which one you feed.
But which one will it be?
Well, it depends on what it eats.
One feeds off negativity,
One lives off positive energy.
It’s in the food that we eat,
It’s in the air that we breathe,
It’s the lies in our fantasy,
It’s the truth in our reality,
It dictates how we think,
It’s the way that we speak,
It’s the blood that we bleed,
And the water we drink,
It is all of these things.
You do what you do so one suffers defeat
As it does what it must to achieve victory.
It knows how you think,
For it knows everything,
or so it would have you think,
for the spirit is willing,
but the flesh is weak,
therefore forsake any delusion-of-grandeur goat
and cleave to being one of His sheep.
Shannon Mayhew says
I sat down to play with this intriguing prompt, but some sort of spell has turned my poem into something else! I must have Halloween on my mind. And I’ve been reading Shel Silverstein with my kids. So, apologies for straying from the full intention of the prompt. Maybe I will create a true fairy tale beast too, but for now, here is some trickery for you. 🙂
Trickery
“Do your chores!” my dad says
but he’d better beware…
A witch has bewitched me
and now I’m a bear!
To help mom with dinner
is the right thing to do,
but a grouchy gray ghost
turned me into a gnu!
My brother would like me
to help stack the blocks,
but a feisty lil’ fairy
has made me a fox!
To finish my homework
would be just divine,
But a spellbinding sprite
turned me into a swine!
So this is my story–
A tale sad but true,
But I must say good-bye now
and find something to do.
Katie says
Shannon, What fun! So enjoyed this:) Could be the makings of a great children’s book!
Kaiya Rose says
I love this poem! Definitely reminds me of Shel Silverstein. But I have to ask: what did you do to make all these magical beings want to curse you? 😉