I Wanna Know

NEWS AND OPINION

PW exposes the tricks, scams and truth about the powers that be.

By Kris Wilton

Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Apr. 30, 2003

Q: It's that time of year again when I return to my perennial quest to discover the author of the following imperishable lines:

De spring is sprung, de grass is riz.
I wonder where de boidies is.
De boidies is upon de wing.
But dat's absoid
Da wing is on de boid !

Everyone seems to know it, or at least the first two lines, but I've never met anyone who admits to knowing who wrote it. Any ideas?

A: PW's been tickled a lovely spring shade of pink walking around with this silly poem and delusions of a grand author discovery in mind. But alas, the only answer of any authority to be found is in Comic Poems, from Everyman's Library, which includes this slightly different version:

"Spring in the Bronx"

Spring is sprung,
Duh grass is riz
I wonder where dem boidies is.

Duh little boids is on duh wing--
But dat's absoid:
Duh little wing is on duh boid.

Unfortunately for those of us who've been losing sleep over the author of this spring ditty, the best author they could come up with was good old Anon.

Having read rumors that Ogden Nash may have written it, PW trekked to the library to seek out Selected Poetry of Ogden Nash: 650 Rhymes, Verses, Lyrics and Poems. But no such luck. This extensive collection of pre-Shel Silverstein frivolousness suffers from a disappointing dearth of boidies, its closest association being this fun Bronx reference:

"Geographical Reflection"

The Bronx?
No, thonx!

So, as absoid as it may seem, it looks like the world will have to go on turning without the author of "Spring in the Bronx" getting the credit he or she so rightly deserves. And Philly will have to settle for not knowing. At least until next spring.

�

What do you wanna know? Send queries and complaints to Kris Wilton at kwilton@philadelphiaweekly.com