The Adventures of Isabel by Ogden Nash was one of my favorite poems as a child. My father loved poetry and he would read to me often from a little tattered textbook that I still have to this day. I had other favorites, too, like Casey at the Bat by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, and Arithmentic by Carl Sandburg. But the Adventures of Isabel is the one I remember most. Maybe it was the way my father would read “Isabel Isabel didn’t worry, Isabel didn’t scream or scurry…” I think it was mostly because I saw Isabel as a heroine and I wanted to be like her. Calm and collected in the face of danger. And of course we all want to have adventures.

My Isabelle is spelled a little differently as it happened that I wrote a script entitled “The Adventures of Isabelle Part One” while working as a cashier at a lower-end department store and attending college. I chose that name for the script because I remembered the poem, but not the spelling. And anyway, the character of Isabelle was also known as Belle. It’s interesting for me to look back at that script because in it I can see all the things that ultimately led me to where I am today intellectually. And that script ultimately developed from the memory of this poem. So here it is.

The Adventures of Isabel

by Ogden Nash

Isabel met an enormous bear,
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t care;
The bear was hungry, the bear was ravenous,
The bear’s big mouth was cruel and cavernous.
The bear said, Isabel, glad to meet you,
How do, Isabel, now I’ll eat you!
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t worry.
Isabel didn’t scream or scurry.
She washed her hands and she straightened her hair up,
Then Isabel quietly ate the bear up.

Once in a night as black as pitch
Isabel met a wicked old witch.
the witch’s face was cross and wrinkled,
The witch’s gums with teeth were sprinkled.
Ho, ho, Isabel! the old witch crowed,
I’ll turn you into an ugly toad!
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t worry,
Isabel didn’t scream or scurry,
She showed no rage and she showed no rancor,
But she turned the witch into milk and drank her.

Isabel met a hideous giant,
Isabel continued self reliant.
The giant was hairy, the giant was horrid,
He had one eye in the middle of his forhead.
Good morning, Isabel, the giant said,
I’ll grind your bones to make my bread.
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t worry,
Isabel didn’t scream or scurry.
She nibled the zwieback that she always fed off,
And when it was gone, she cut the giant’s head off.

Isabel met a troublesome doctor,
He punched and he poked till he really shocked her.
The doctor’s talk was of coughs and chills
And the doctor’s satchel bulged with pills.
The doctor said unto Isabel,
Swallow this, it will make you well.
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t worry,
Isabel didn’t scream or scurry.
She took those pills from the pill concocter,
And Isabel calmly cured the doctor.