Thursday, August 23, 2012

Alexander the Beetle

watercolor and ink

Forgiven 
I found a little beetle; so that Beetle was his name,
And I called him Alexander and he answered just the same.
I put him in a match-box, and I kept him all the day ...
And Nanny let my beetle out -
Yes, Nanny let my beetle out -
She went and let my beetle out -
And Beetle ran away.

She said she didn't mean it, and I never said she did,
She said she wanted matches and she just took off the lid,
She said that she was sorry, but it's difficult to catch
An excited sort of beetle you've mistaken for a match.

She said that she was sorry, and I really mustn't mind,
As there's lots and lots of beetles which she's certain we could find,
If we looked about the garden for the holes where beetles hid -
And we'd get another match-box and write BEETLE on the lid.

We went to all the places which a beetle might be near,
And we made the sort of noises which a beetle likes to hear,
And I saw a kind of something, and I gave a sort of shout:
"A beetle-house and Alexander Beetle coming out!"

It was Alexander Beetle I'm as certain as can be,
And he had a sort of look as if he thought it must be Me,
And he had a sort of look as if he thought he ought to say:
"I'm very very sorry that I tried to run away."

And Nanny's very sorry too for you-know-what-she-did,
And she's writing ALEXANDER very blackly on the lid,
So Nan and Me are friends, because it's difficult to catch
An excited Alexander you've mistaken for a match.
~A.A. Milne

Sharing at PPF

43 comments:

  1. What a lovely beetle ♥ it is perfect!

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  2. Both your painting and the poem brought a smile to my face. Thank you.

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  3. Oh I LOVE this! I haven't read AA Milne in a long time, and you've just cheered my evening!
    So... did your inspiration come from finding the poem or did coming across the beetle remind you of the poem? :)
    Happy PPF!

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  4. A beetle can look menacing but Alexander looks like he could be a friend! Patsy from
    HeARTworks and
    papemelroti

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  5. My mum read us A A Milne religiously and I was a bit surprised that I still remembered this one so well... I found myself reciting it from memory as I saw it... am forwarding the link to her... she will love seeing this...xx

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  6. wonderful words and illustration!!

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  7. What a fabulous poem and your illustration of Alexander is perfect - you've managed to make him look like a wee individual life form rather than just a scary creepy crawlie!

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  8. I love your Beetle. And the texture of the ground, stunning work. I love the poem as well. A perfect representation of Alexander!! :)

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  9. Lovely beetle and I love that poem. I think it was Melanie who made such a lovely recording of it back in 70s. Valerie

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  10. Great verses from Milne and a wonderful beetle. Happy PPF, Annette x

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  11. Love the shiny surface of the beetle. Really good!

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  12. oy - he's creepy but as usual your work is incredible.
    cheers, dana

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  13. Your beetle is beautiful (is that possible, a beautiful beetle?). Love your post. I raised my children on AA Milne.
    Happy PPF and thanks for the delightful post.

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  14. Excellent water color ~ Wow ~ love the professionalism to it ~ ( A Creative Harbor)

    Always good to have you come by ^_^

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  15. Just awesome! Love how it is so close!

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  16. Your beetle portrait is absolutely extraordinary!
    Lovely blue-grays!
    ♥♥♥
    Happy PPF!!
    Mary
    Mixed-Media Map Art

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  17. I begun with a easy smile from both painting and poem. Coming to the end, I went back to the painting and just gazed lost in thoughts... You have a special way to catch your viewer by the hand and show her/him a small part of your soul. (thank you)
    Warm regards.

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  18. Awww...I love Alexander, and A.A. Milne. What a perfect duo.

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  19. You are such a good artist. Love the detail in your big beetle and thanks for trip down memory lane with this poet! HPPF!

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  20. Your Alexander is lovely! AA Milne is such a delight. Perfect. Happy PPF

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  21. Your watercolor beetle is fabulous! A perfect poem to go with your awesome work. :-)

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  22. Your painting is amazing, and I adore the poem!

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  23. Wonderful beetle! Totally three-dimensional and with an ice shiny carapace!

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  24. Love the beetle and an amazing poem!

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  25. It's a beautiful beetle, great poem.

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  26. Love the painting and AA Milne's writing - although i'm not so sure i love REAL beetles... ;-) Your work is awesome. Always fun to catch up on your blog. xox

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  27. What an awesome painting. You can see the shine on his shell. So wonderful. And the story...priceless.

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  28. I can certainly see where you would get excited about painting a Beetle. What an adorable poem. Blessings, Janet PPF

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  29. Hello Minnemie:) Thank you so much for given me my first smile of this day. What a lovely poem, I really loved it:)So touchy. Your beatle is so nice painted.I love the colors. Looking to his eyes I can see it's Alexander:)

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  30. I like very much this funny beattle. I ever like the light and shadows your painting. You,ve painted up the shadpws of the little legs. Warm regards.

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  31. I'm surprised to hear myself say that I love a beetle painting and poem...but I do. ;)

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  32. Beetlemania ..yeah, yeah ...yeeeaaahhh!

    Lovely painting (it took me ages to work it out on my sidebar) All my family were brought up reading Milne ...and three little foxes who never wore shoes and never wore soxes and kept theit handkerchiefs in ceardboard boxes ...

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  33. You painted Alexander so perfectly! & Fantastic poem!!

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  34. Oh this is so cute! lovely poem too!

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  35. I am crazy about this poem and all A A Milne's work. You could make such a wonderful book for your boys of poems and artwork. Do you sell your art? Where- I am very interested in it- so let me know. Ons is goed hier, bietjie koeler nou, maar nog nie herfs nie. Ek voel so opgewonde oor my 'retirement' dat ek kan amper nie slapp nie. Ha ha. Liefs en soentkies vir jou en al jou manne.

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  36. Oh my.. I am not fond of looking at Beatles and you did this to look sooo real. Good job. Love the little story/poem. :) HPPF

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  37. Which came first, the painting or the poem? Wondering if you found the poem to go with the painting or created the painting to illustrate the poem.

    Lovely little portrait.

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    1. On this one, a little boy with a prized beetle-in-hand came first - into my kitchen! So the painting followed and Milne described the situation better than I could have... except that our beetle died in captivity and announced his passing with a regrettable odor! OH the things that inspire my art...;-)

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  38. What a beautiful way to match poetry with art :) Love your Alexander totally...

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  39. Gorgeous beetle, love the details and his shiny back, and the story is just so delightful!

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  40. Love all of the detail in your beetle and your poem is a riot :0)

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