Can you identify the fairy tale references in this poem by Anne Caston:
Prelude by Anne Caston
Every tree is one tree. That tree
grows in every forest, that forest always
dark and deep, always lying precisely
at the edge of every village everywhere.
Be there lost children, you will
have abandoned them there with a sack
of breadcrumbs; you will have filled
the trees with hungry birds.
Be there a huntsman, you
will have honed the hidden
blade he carries and sent him
in search of a girl’s heart.
Monsters, wolves or witches,
they are yours. Destroying angels,
devils, a crooked mirror on the wall, one
ripe bite of fruit lodged in a throat: yours.
The paralyzing poison. Drifting
snow. A wall of thorns. A coat of nettles.
Likewise, all extinctions. You have
traveled the deep Nothing to arrive here.
It is time.
Sleeper; waken.
Look: there. A tree.
What are you waiting for?
Find a grove of trees, enter it, close your eyes and listen…
We all recall the fairy tales that entranced us when we were young… and maybe still do. Before they were called “fairy tales,” they were folk tales. Where do fairy tales come from? What makes a story a “fairy tale?” How are they related to myths, if they are?
Fairy Tales are both completely familiar and mysteriously alien. Most of us grow up hearing the stories of Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast and there are many films and TV shows which can capitalized on our love of these stories. While we tend to relegate them to “children’s literature” these stories were originally told within the family circle as entertainment for all ages or written down in versions which clearly were intended for adults, not kids.
reflect on what seems obvious but as we explore it carefully, not so much. Education is essentially regaining our childhood talent at questioning for meaning. This site is connected to a freshman seminar course at St. Joseph’s University in New York where first year college students will share in a collaborative adventure in inquiry. In exploring fairy tales and their interpretations we will range through psychology, history, sociology, philosophy, literature, and education. Join us as our website develops over the next couple of months.