The Vinegar Man
The crazy old Vinegar Man is dead! He never had missed a day before!
Somebody went to his tumble-down shed by the Haunted House and forced the door.
There in the litter of his pungent pans,
the murky mess of his mixing place
Deep, sticky spiders and empty cans
with the same old frown on his sour old face.
Vinegar - Vinegar - Vinegar Man!
Face - us - and - chase - us - and - catch - if -you - can!
Pepper for a tongue! Pickle for a nose!
Stick a pin in him and vinegar flows!
Glare -at-us- swear -at-us- catch - if - you-can!
Ketchup - and - chow - chow - and -Vinegar -Man!
Nothing but recipes and worthless junk;
greasy old records of paid and due
But down in the depths of a battered trunk,
a queer, quaint Valentine torn in two?
Red hearts and arrows and silver lace,
and a prim, dim, ladylike script that said
"With dearest love, from Ellen to Ned!"
Steal - us - and - peel - us - and - drown - us -in - brine!
He pickles his heart in a valentine!
Vinegar for blood! Pepper for his tongue!
Stick a pin in him and
...once he was young!
Glare -at-us- swear -at-us- catch - if - you - can!
"With dearest love" to the Vinegar Man!
Dingy little books of profit and loss
(died about Saturday, so they say),
And a queer, quaint valentine torn across . . .
torn, but it never was thrown away!
"With dearest love from Ellen to Ned"
"Old Pepper Tongue! Pickles his heart in brine!"
The Vinegar Man is a long time dead:
he died when he tore his valentine.
by Ruth Comfort Mitchell
I found this poem in a 100 year old book of poems for children. The author had included an gentle admonishment to be kind to the many "queer" people who live among us. I think every childhood has some ghosts of Vinegar Men. Mine included a low functioning man who mowed lawns for his living and who was terrorized by teen boys who called him "Cherokee Chuck" and made mock war dances around him in order to evoke his peculiar rage.
I like the way this strange little poem captures the idea of the "other" we think we have pegged as having a mysterious backstory, which is, of course, truth.
20 comments:
I read the last stanza in a murder mystery involving a poet. I googled it and found the whole poem here. It is so touching and hear wrenching. We all remember some 'weird' old person that was teased and no one thought they were once young or loved.
I had that book too! It was called Silver Pennies. Not quite 100 years old; it had "In Flanders Fields" and that was post-Great War. Actually I should say that I still have the book. It inspired me to find more by some of the same poets, like Yeats. Not bad for something my mom found at a yard sale.
This oddly enough was my favorite poem as a child... thank you for posting it so that I could share it with my own daughter who now also enjoys eerie poems:) Cindy
You are very welcome, Cindy. I loved it as a kid too and this poem can be found in an old book of poems for children called "Silver Pennies". Thanks for reading!
I recited this poem in our District School competition for poetry reading.. I won first place. I always loved it.. this was 1964.
I recited this poem in our District School competition for poetry reading.. I won first place. I always loved it.. this was 1964.
In the 60's a group called the"3D's" put this poem to music. I enjoyed it back then and finally found a place I could get a copy of it, and enjoy it even more now than I did back then.
Jim
If you love the poem, as I do, you might also like a CD "The Poetry Album" by a 1960s vocal trio named The 3 Ds. One of the cuts is "The Vinegar Man" that they set to music. You can sample it and buy it at http://www.phoenixrecords.org/albums/poetry/vinegar_man.php
5665If you love the poem, as I do, you might also like a CD "The Poetry Album" by a 1960s vocal trio named The 3 Ds. One of the cuts is "The Vinegar Man" that they set to music. You can sample it and buy it at http://www.phoenixrecords.org/albums/poetry/vinegar_man.php
The album to which Jim refers is "The Poetry Album by the 3Ds. You can sample and buy it at
http://www.phoenixrecords.org/albums/poetry/vinegar_man.php
I read this as a young child and I'm 71 years now but every Valentine's Day I recall it and the lesson I learned from it. "Treat other's like you would like to be treated."
Other's I read and loved were "Little Boy Blue" and " Three little children were lost in the wood."
My father read poetry to us as children...and this is the one I most clearly remember. Can you tell me the name of the book of poetry you found it in? Thanks so much!
My father read poetry to us as children...and this is the one I most clearly remember. Can you tell me the name of the book of poetry you found it in? Thanks so much!
You are very welcome!
\
It is in Silver Pennies
by Blanche Jennings Thompson
My 5th grade teacher played the 3Ds record to our class in the mid 60s. Every poem on it was a winner and The Vinegar Man was one of my favorites! My mom bought it for me and we played it forever. A few years ago I found the CD and have been playing cuts off it to my 5th grade class.
My grandmother read The Vinegar Man to us today.We liked it very much. We are 7 years old. These are Dashiells and Griffins comments.
I am very pleased that you enjoyed the piem. Poetry is wonderful. Another poet you may enjoy is James Whitcomb Riley. I liked some of his poems when I was a child and loved to recite them. Best wishes for happy days!
I am very pleased that you enjoyed the poem. Poetry is wonderful. Another poet you may enjoy is James Whitcomb Riley. I liked some of his poems when I was a child and loved to recite them. Best wishes for happy days!
I read this poem when I was in elementary school many years ago and it was probably the first poem that ever made an impression on me. The interpretation of the poem offered here--that we should be considerate of unusual people and not taunt them and that little children can be unthinkingly cruel is a good interpretation. However, I drew a different (or perhaps complementary) lesson from the poem, which is that life is best in families, that it is good to have people who help you and that you help. The Vinegar Man is someone who once had a love in his life, perhaps a chance to marry and have a family, but he missed that opportunity--the "quaint old valentine" from someone who liked him, which he received but rejected--"torn in two." Perhaps he was too demanding, or unwilling to adapt to the give-and-take that a durable relationship requires. What followed was a sad and solitary existence for him. To me, this poem says, "Don't miss your chance; don't end up alone; don't become a Vinegar Man."
I read this poem when I was little (1950s). I always loved it. It was included in Silver Pennies book which held many of my favorite childhood memories. My daughter now has it, and I JUST share those memories with her and her kids!!
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