Mrs. Fidget by Hilaire Belloc (Sort of)

Or Another Cautionary Verse.

Recently another writer on Be Open, Mark Armstrong wrote an article about Mrs. Fidget who is a character in C. S. Lewis’ book The Four Loves.

Lewis uses Mrs. Fidget as a distorted example of gift love. He describes her as a recently deceased woman whose family has been much happier since she died. Mrs. Fidget used to live for her family — making all their meals, waiting up for them at night, and generally fussing over them — even though her family begged her not to. He says that Mrs. Fidget’s kind of Gift-love is perverted because it wants the beloved to receive the gifts that only she can give; it “needs to be needed.” In contrast, divine Gift-love wants what’s best for the beloved, regardless of who gives it.1

Mark’s original post can be found here: Love Means Letting People Be Independent | Counter Arts (medium.com)

For some reason when I read this post Hilaire Beloc came to mind and I thought that it would be fun to do a poem in the style of Hilaire Beloc about Mrs. Fidget.

Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc (/hɪˈlɛər ˈbɛlək/, French: [ilɛːʁ bɛlɔk]; 27 July 1870[1] — 16 July 1953) was a Franco-English writer and historian of the early 20th century. Belloc was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. His Catholic faith had a strong effect on his works.

Belloc became a naturalised British subject in 1902 while retaining his French citizenship.[2] While attending Oxford University, he served as President of the Oxford Union. From 1906 to 1910, he served as one of the few openly Catholic members of the British Parliament.

Belloc was a noted disputant, with a number of long-running feuds. He was also a close friend and collaborator of G. K. Chesterton. George Bernard Shaw, a friend and frequent debate opponent of both Belloc and Chesterton, dubbed the pair the “Chesterbelloc”.[3][4][5]

Belloc’s writings encompassed religious poetry and comic verse for children. His widely sold Cautionary Tales for Children included “Jim, who ran away from his nurse, and was eaten by a lion” and “Matilda, who told lies and was burned to death”. He wrote historical biographies and numerous travel works, including The Path to Rome (1902). 2

So, I modelled (and partially plagiarized) my poem about Mrs. Fidget on Belloc’s poem: Rebecca, Who slammed Doors for fun and Perished Miserably. In the below, line 1 is Belloc’s, line 3 I changed banker to merchant, lines 13 and 14 are lifted directly from Belloc as is line 15 through the word ‘virtue’. The rest is mine.

A Trick that everyone abhors,

Is Mrs. Fidget making ‘smores.

A wealthy merchant’s useful wife

Whose family gibbed and fussed and whined,

And lived in Newcastle under Lyme,

As Mrs. Fidget cooked and took the time

To mend their socks and fix their clocks.

She was not really bad at heart,

And one fine morning with a start

She passed away before she even baked a tart.

It’s true, her family were not upset,

She’d finished sewing all their vests.

Her funeral sermon (which was long

And followed by a sacred song)

Mentioned her virtues one by one,

Then home they went to have some fun.

1: LitCharts

2: Wikipedia