Monday – April Fools Day
For reasons I can’t explain, 18th century Britain was into April Fools Day. Jonathan Swift in particular loved the occasion and produced some of the great literary pranks in history. (See the links below.) Today, however, I present the work of one William Combe, who in 1777 wrote The First of April or the Triumph of Folly.
The lengthy poem owes much to the satire of Alexander Pope, especially The Dunciad and Rape of the Lock. Combe knows whereof he speaks when he satirizes the frivolity of his age because he himself wasted a large fortune on spendthrift living, ending up in debtors prison. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, by the time he was 30 he had traveled widely, lived like a prince, and spent time as a private soldier, a waiter, a teacher, and a cook. His final and lasting occupation was as a writer.
Triumph of Folly opens by quoting Shakespeare:
Lear: Dost thou call me fool, boy?
Fool: All the other titles thou has given away. That thou wast born with.
Then Combe launches into a glorious celebration of April Fools Day:
'Twas on the morn when April doth appear,
And wets the primrose with its maiden tear;
'Twas on the morn when laughing Folly rules,
And calls her sons around, and dubs them fools;
Bids them be bold some untried path explore,
And do such deeds as fools ne'er did before…
Unleashing his fantasy, the poet imagines a gaudy spring festival:
'Twas on that morn, when Fancy took her stand
Beside my couch, and, with fantastic wand,
Waved, from her airy cells, the antic train
That play their gay delusions on the brain:
And strait, methought, a rude impetuous throng,
With noise and riots, hurried me along
To where a sumptuous building met my eyes,
Whose gilded turrets seemed to dare the skies....
With these I entered a stupendous hall,
The scene of some approaching festival.
O'er the wide portals, full in sight were spread
Banners of yellow hue, bestripped with red,
Whereon, in golden characters, were seen:
The Anniversary of Folly's Queen!
April, personified as a “blooming boy,” is a key figure in this imaginary procession. Associated with spring flowers, singing birds, new birth and a Bacchanalian bull, he is part of delicious scene:
Next came a blooming Boy in robe of green;
On his fair brow a flowery crown was seen,
Where the pale Primrose with the Cowslip vied,
And fragrant Violets shone in purple pride.
Upon a Bull he rode, whose horns were gay
With many a golden flower and budding spray.
Around him every vernal Songster fled,
While the Lark soared and whistled o'er his head.
And now he smiled with joy, and now, apace,
The crystal tears bedewed his altered face
Like the young Fondling on his Mother's breast,
Who cries for absent joys, and thinks them best:
'Mid smiles, and tears, and frowns, he onward came,
With gentle pace,--and APRIL was his name.
April’s crystal tears bring May flowers. Let gayety reign.
Posts on Swift and April Fools Day
Swift’s Spectacular April Fools Joke
