There are those who
cannot enjoy any joke which they do not make themselves. Some cannot
guess the simplest riddle, while others could soon detect the real
nature of a cherry coloured cat with rose-coloured feet.
Observation is necessary for all criticism, especially of that kind
often found in humour. As an instance of humour being unappreciated for
lack of it, I may mention that Beattie considers the well known passage
of Gray to be parodied poetically, but not humorously, in the following
lines upon a country curate--
"Bread was his only food; his drink the brook;
So small a salary did his rector send,
He left his laundress all he had--a book,
He found in death, 'twas all he wished--a friend."
Most people would think that this was intended to be humorous. It
struck me so--the "book" was evidently his washing book--and on turning
to the original poem I found that the other stanzas were not at all of a
serious complexion. The assistance given by imagination to humour is
clearly seen, when after some good saying laughter recurs several times,
as new aspects of the situation suggested present themselves.
Circumstances of time and country greatly modify our modes of thought,
and a vast amount of humour has thus become obscure, not only for want
of information, but because things are not viewed in the same light.
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