# Dave’s Imperturbability explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ring Lardner.

## 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.

## Character check-ins

### 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 lines

> 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._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_19_se/chapters/dave-s-imperturbability
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_19_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_19_se/chapters