A Brief Review of Heinrich Hoffmann's Poem - The Story Of Augustus Who Would Not Have Any Soup

The Story of Augustus Who Would Not Have Any Soup was a poem written to caution misbehaving children by Heinrich Hoffman, a German psychiatrist, in 1845. The poem belongs to a collection named Struwwelpeter which Heinrich had written to teach children that there was always severe consequences for misbehaviours.

The Story of Augustus Who Would Not Have Any Soup tells the story of Augustus, an unfortunate lad who suddenly begins to ignore his food for no valid reason. Every effort to make Augustus, who was once a chubby lad, eat his food proved abortive until he eventually dies of starvation.

Although Heinrich's poem is largely believed as having little or no intellectual relevance in the literary world, the poem emphasizes the importance of food for human survival. Children who are tempted to behave like Augustus are sharply alerted about the consequences of such actions.

Personally, I find Heinrich's poem quite interesting because of its musicality and its accompanying simple diction. I hope you'll enjoy the poem as I have always done:

Augustus was a chubby lad;
Fat, ruddy cheeks Augustus had;
And everybody saw with joy
The plump and heart, healthy boy,
He ate and drank as he was told
And never let his soup get cold.

But one day, on cold winter’s day
He screamed out-‘Take the soup away:
Oh, take the nasty soup away!
I won’t have any soup today.’

Next day begins his tale of woes,
Quite lank and lean Augustus grows,
Yet though he feels so weak and ill,
The naughty fellow cries out still-
‘Not any soup for me I say:
Oh, take the nasty soup away!
I won’t have any soup today.’

The third day comes; oh’ what a sin!
To make himself so pale and thin.
Yet, when the soup is put on table,
He screams as loud as he is abler,-
‘Not any soup for me, I saw:
Oh take the nasty soup away!
I won’t have any soup to-day.’

Look at him, now the fourth’s day’s come!
He scarcely weighs a sugar-plum;
He’s like a little bit of thread
And on the fifth day he was dead!

• Reference
  https://m.poemhunter.com/poem/the-story-of-augustus-who-would-not-have-any-soup/

Image sourced from Google

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