Continued from the previous post.
These are some of the poems that we analysed, all by Shel Silverstein.
The Little Boy and the Old Man
Said the little boy, "Sometimes I drop my spoon."
Said the old man, "I do that too."
The little boy whispered, "I wet my pants."
"I do that too," laughed the little old man.
Said the little boy, "I often cry."
The old man nodded, "So do I."
"But worst of all," said the boy, "it seems
Grown-ups don't pay attention to me."
And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand.
"I know what you mean," said the little old man.
Q1) What is the underlying message that is being conveyed in this poem?
Ans: Both Children and elderly are equally treated. A person becomes just like a child again when he is old.
Q2) Has Shel Silverstein used any particular poetic technique that brings out this message more clearly?
Ans: Assonace. There is assonace in every sentence, and through this I feel that Shel Silverstein is trying to show similarity between the old man and the child.
Messy Room
Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
His underwear is hanging on the lamp.
His raincoat is there in the overstuffed chair,
And the chair is becoming quite mucky and damp.
His workbook is wedged in the window,
His sweater's been thrown on the floor.
His scarf and one ski are beneath the TV,
And his pants have been carelessly hung on the door.
His books are all jammed in the closet,
His vest has been left in the hall.
A lizard named Ed is asleep in his bed,
And his smelly old sock has been stuck to the wall.
Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
Donald or Robert or Willie or--
Huh? You say it's mine? Oh, dear,
I knew it looked familiar!
Q1) Can you say that the poem is humorous? If so how?
Ans: Yes. Shel Silverstein's majority of the poem was on critcizing a room, but at the end, he realised that the room was actually his, the irony and foolishness of the identity potrayed being humorous.
Q2) What aspect of the human character has been highlighted in this poem?
Ans: "The pot calling the cattle black" aspect.
Cloony The Clown
I'll tell you the story of Cloony the Clown
Who worked in a circus that came through town.
His shoes were too big and his hat was too small,
But he just wasn't, just wasn't funny at all.
He had a trombone to play loud silly tunes,
He had a green dog and a thousand balloons.
He was floppy and sloppy and skinny and tall,
But he just wasn't, just wasn't funny at all.
And every time he did a trick,
Everyone felt a little sick.
And every time he told a joke,
Folks sighed as if their hearts were broke.
And every time he lost a shoe,
Everyone looked awfully blue.
And every time he stood on his head,
Everyone screamed, "Go back to bed!"
And every time he made a leap,
Everybody fell asleep.
And every time he ate his tie,
Everyone began to cry.
And Cloony could not make any money
Simply because he was not funny.
One day he said, "I'll tell this town
How it feels to be an unfunny clown."
And he told them all why he looked so sad,
And he told them all why he felt so bad.
He told of Pain and Rain and Cold,
He told of Darkness in his soul,
And after he finished his tale of woe,
Did everyone cry? Oh no, no, no,
They laughed until they shook the trees
With "Hah-Hah-Hahs" and "Hee-Hee-Hees."
They laughed with howls and yowls and shrieks,
They laughed all day, they laughed all week,
They laughed until they had a fit,
They laughed until their jackets split.
The laughter spread for miles around
To every city, every town,
Over mountains, 'cross the sea,
From Saint Tropez to Mun San Nee.
And soon the whole world rang with laughter,
Lasting till forever after,
While Cloony stood in the circus tent,
With his head drooped low and his shoulders bent.
And he said,"THAT IS NOT WHAT I MEANT -
I'M FUNNY JUST BY ACCIDENT."
And while the world laughed outside.
Cloony the Clown sat down and cried.
Q1) Explain the irony in this poem.
Ans: Cloony The Clown tried so hard to entertain, but all his efforts were in vain, as no one found him funny at all. When he decided to stop entertaining people and tell everyone had sad he felt, everyone instead laughed and were entertained.
Q2) Does Shel Silverstein manage to convey some harsh realities in this poem?
Ans: Yes. He manages to convey the harsh reality of sadistic personalities in people.
Q3) What poetic devices has the poet used to effectively convey his message?
Ans: Assonace and rhyme.
Which of the above poems can you identify with the most? Write down your thoughts on your blog...
I feel that the poem that I can relate to the most is Cloony The Clown by Shel Silverstein. I think this poem addresses the reality of what most people are like, which is everyone indeed has a sadistic side to them. Being a clown means that you have to entertain people, try to make people laugh, but more often than not, this is actually quite a tedious and unrewarding job, which requires someone with a huge amount of patience. So what happens is that clowns usually resort to doing silly things, rather than funny things. This means that when people are "entertained" by the clown, they are laughing at the clown, not with the clown.
In the game, Sims, when your sims are exceptionally upset, a clown will come into your household and try to cheer your sims up. So what happens is the clown will try to perform tricks and entertain your sims, but the result is actually your sims becoming more upset, as a result of finding the clown "unentertaining". After spending some time trying to find out how the clown would actually help my sims, I found out that when you direct your sims to do mean or evil actions towards the clown, they actually become happier!
So I think that Shel Silverstein has really done a good job in trying to convey this message to the audience.
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