PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

American history as taught in the classroom is often very sanitized. It seems as if there are many people who want to have a saintly image of all the great figures in American history. They want to elevate figures to lofty but above human status. They teach a glossy,sterile rendition of the past. The problem with this is that it does not allow one to see the whole story.

 Me personally, I like knowing that historical figures that rose to greatness were all too human. I like seeing that most great individuals had to overcome internal weaknesses and vice as well as external obstacles. Many like Benjamin Franklin were anything but sanitized or prudish. Right wing Christians be damned, this man actually had a penis. Franklin had a bawdy sense of humor and a robust lust for life. He was rarely one to avoid stirring the pot or causing controversy.

As the Introduction to Fart Proudly wrote “this is a side to Benjamin Franklin we were not exposed to in school”. This little collection of letters, poems and satirical pieces reveal an anything but prudish, angelic figure. Franklin seemed to have a great penchant for seeking response. The title is based on the classic The Letter to a Royal Academy. In this piece, Franklin jokingly extols the virtues of naturally created air and recommends an invention to turn this 'wind' into energy. He discusses the different manners in which individuals release air. "A few stems of asparagus might cause a disagreeable odour but a pill of turpentine creates a smell of violets." Very funny stuff.

A piece like Transporting Rattle-snakes mocks the British for not passing a law banning to exporting of convicts from Great Britain to the colonies. They held the reasoning that it would not be detrimental to the colonists for these convicts to be shipped there. They called it “improvement and well peopling of the colonies” Franklin reasons that rattlesnakes would not harm the motherland in anyway so we should send them to Britain in return for the convicts. He concludes with the notion that rattlesnakes unlike convicts have the decency to hiss before striking.

Other pieces like Alice Addertonge deal with a woman who likes to gossip and cause scandals. Rules For Making Oneself a Disagreeable Companion deal with the differences between catering to the status quo and pleasing oneself. The Speech of Miss Polly Baker deals with the double standard of condemning the woman for a child born out of wedlock and acquitting the man responsible. Franklin brilliantly writes from Miss Polly Baker's point of view. There are also a number of satirical pieces against England in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War. I have read that Franklin is sometimes regarded as the First American. He certainly did a lot to fan the fires of revolt. We owe much of our freedom to him.

Fart Proudly includes a number of Franklin's poems. These are some comical rhymes. In The Antediluvians Were All Very Sober, he takes some shots at the anti-drinking forces and extols the virtues of having a couple:

Twas Honest Old Noah first planted the Vine,/And mended his Morals by drinking its Wine;/He justly the drinking of Water decried;/For he knew that all Mankind, by drinking it, died.

 Franklin coolly notes that there “can't be good living where there is not good drinking. A founding father after me own heart. His verse is good although the bawdy nature will prevent it from being taught in poetry classes. The humour is also striking. The writing in this thin volume is a far cry from the moralistic version of Franklin taught in school.

I must say that I am very grateful for this volume. It allows one to get a feel for what an extraordinary man Benjamin Franklin was. He was full of life and bubbled over with creative energy. He was a bit of a rogue but he is also the founder of our first newspaper. He is one of the reasons we have a thing called Freedom of Press. He probably did offend a lot of people in his own day with these writings. But his logic and his scientific genius forced many to overlook the scandal.

The volume also includes an introduction by editor Carl Japikse. He decries the current political correctness and notes that some of Franklin's writings might well be banned today. Before the Revolution, the British regarded him as the “most dangerous man in America.” He would likely be regarded as a dangerous man in America were he alive today.

Japikse does take a few liberties in a closing piece titled The Dream. In this piece, which serves as afterword or epilogue, Japikse imagines Franklin returning to modern America. He takes some liberties in assuming what Franklin's views would be on issues like medicare and other civil services. He sees a Franklin outraged at freedoms being given to the government. It is difficult to say how any person from the past would react to today's world. I guess he is free to speculate. I think we all have our opinions on how Franklin or Jefferson would feel about today's society.

The Dream does not really detract from the value of the collection nor does it add to the value. It is simply an extra piece of writing in the book. And it does do something that Franklin himself would likely have appreciated: It stimulates thought and debate.

This is a side of a Founding Father that many do not know and may not care to know. But for those interested in the whole story, this is an essential volume. It is also funnier than much of what passes for satire today anyway. The entertainment value is equal to the educational value in this book.