‘...Other tales, in which beasts and birds compose the Dramatis Personae, are to be
considered as burlesque satires, intended to make human actions and passions ridiculous, by
ascribing them to the brute creation. Such are [Edmund] Spenser’s Mother Hubbard’s Tale
[1591] (none of his best productions) - the old popular Tale of Reynard the Fox, (What has
become of my Father’s copy of it?) and the once admired children’s books, The Peacock at
Home, The Lion’s Masquerade, The Cat’s Gala, The Lobster’s Voyage to the Brazils etc. which,
though sufficiently humorous and entertaining, are not, I suspect, very wholesome aliment for
children, whose sense of the ridiculous is generally, quite strong enough of itself. ...'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Hartley Coleridge Print: Book