Poetry · Chapter
Dave’s Imperturbability explained
A lighthearted poem celebrating a child's unflappable attitude toward mishaps, where young Davey responds to falls, scrapes, or broken toys with the stoic phrase 'It’s what I was trying to do.' The narrator admires this philosophy and vows
What happens
A lighthearted poem celebrating a child's unflappable attitude toward mishaps, where young Davey responds to falls, scrapes, or broken toys with the stoic phrase 'It’s what I was trying to do.' The narrator admires this philosophy and vows to adopt it himself, even inviting critics to dismiss his writing as 'plain drool' under the same defiant logic.
Themes in this chapter
Innocence and Growth
The child's unflappable response to minor injuries and breakages reflects a naive yet resilient worldview, emblematic of early childhood development.
Humor and Satire
The poem's playful tone and self-deprecating final stanza use humor to mock both parental anxiety and literary criticism.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
The father who observes Davey's imperturbability and resolves to emulate it.
- Young Stranger
Davey, the narrator's child, who responds to accidents with cool indifference.
Key passages
“When Davey, my kid, takes a tumble And gets an abrasion or two, If you dare sympathize, he coolly replies: 'It’s what I was trying to do.'”
When my son Davey falls and scrapes himself, he dismisses any sympathy by claiming the accident was intentional.
Establishes the central conceit of the child's imperturbable attitude.
“So, ye who don’t like these two pages, Don’t think I’ll be angry with you If ye say to me, 'Fool, you have written plain drool'— That’s what I was trying to do.”
If readers dislike this poem, the narrator will not be offended; he will simply claim that writing nonsense was his goal all along.
Extends the child's philosophy to the author's own work, blending humor with a meta-commentary on criticism.