Main Summary of The Poem ‘My Mother Saw A Dancing Beer’
The poem ‘My Mother Saw A Dancing Beer’ is a narrative poem that describes the entertainment of a dancing bear who earns money by the dance. But the children who enjoy the bear dance could see the unhappiness and discomfort of it and the children could not enjoy the performance. This narrative poem is one of a number of poems written for children by Charles Causley. It describes how a group of children initially enjoy the spectacle of a dancing bear, but their mood changes at the end of the performance as they become aware of the bear’s discomfort. The poem is probably based on an actual account given to Causley by his mother, who would have been at school before the practice of using dancing bears for street entertainment was banned in England in 1911.
Interpretation
Stanza 1
“My mother saw a dancing bear
By the schoolyard, a day in June.
The keeper stood with chain and bar
And whistle-pipe, and played a tune”
In the first stanza the poet describes the dance of a bear. His mother by the school yard on a very hot day in June could see a dancing bear dancing to the tunes of a whistle pipe by its keeper. The keeper of the bear tightens the chain and the bar to control the bear to dance according to the tunes.
Stanza 2
“And bruin lifted up its head
And lifted up its dusty feet.
And all the children laughed to see
It caper in the summer heat
They watched as for the queen it died.
They watched it march. They watched it halt.
They heard the keeper as he cried.
“Now roly-poly!” “Somersault!”
The 2nd stanza talks about the enjoyment of the children. They enjoy the dancing performance of the bear. It is a great amusement for the children. They laughed and watched the bear marching smartly and stopping for a while and made poses in the summer heat. It acts as if he gives his life for the queen. The bear hears the commands of the keeper and obeys as he say “rolly -poly somersault.” The bear is well trained to obey the commands of the master.
Stanza 3
“And then, my mother said there came
The keeper with a begging-cup,
The bear with burning coat of fur,
Shaming the laughter to a stop.
They paid a penny for the dance.
But what they saw was not the show;
Only, in bruin’s aching eyes,
Far distant forests and the snow.”
The poet in this stanza gives the message to the readers. He describes the reality of the life of the bear and its keeper. After the show, the keeper goes around with the bear and the begging bowl. He goes around the crowd with the hope of getting money. The laughter in the crowd stops and
they pay a penny to the keeper. The poet ends the poem by describing the feeling of the crowd here. The penny is given to the keeper not for the amusing behaviour of the bear but for its aching eyes for the far distant forest and snow.
About The Writer Charles Causley
Charles Causley is A British poet who was born on 24th August 1917 at Launceston, Cornwall. He was educated at a local primary school and Launceston College. Due to their family situation, he left school and worked as a clerk. He played in a dance band and wrote a few plays. His works are simple and bring out the richness of folklore. He worked in the Pacific on the aircraft carrier HMS Glory.
He wrote about his experiences in the war in his poetry. Until his last breath, he published in magazines, in anthologies and then many editions of his Collected Poems. A very friendly person to approach. He had a very good association with Siegfried Sassoon, A.L.Rose, Susan Hill, Jack Clemo and Ted Hughes. In 1958 Causley became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. At t the age of 83, he became a Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature. On his 65th birthday, a book of poems was published to honour him. His works were influenced by traditional folk poems. He was reading the full text of “Eden Rock” just before his death in 2003.
Creative Writing
One day in June, my mother was passing by the schoolyard. She saw a bear with his keeper standing with a chain and a bar. He also had a whistle pipe on which he played a wonderful tune. Then the bear lifted up his head and dusty feet. It danced about in the heat on the tune which was played by the keeper.
All the children laughed when they saw this sight. Then it acted as if it was digging before the Queen after which the huge animal started marching. After a while it stood motionless. Suddenly the keeper ordered it to do a somersault. Then my mother said that the keeper went around with a begging bowl and the bear followed him. His fur was almost burning with the heat. Seeing this, the children felt ashamed and stopped laughing.
Everyone paid a penny for the dance. But the thing they saw was not the show. They could only see the bear’s aching eyes which were saying that the bear wanted to go to his house which was far-distant forests and the snow.