Table of Contents

The Villanelle.....................................................................2
The Sestina ........................................................................4
The Pantoum.....................................................................6
The Sonnet ........................................................................8
The Ballad .......................................................................10
Blank Verse .....................................................................12
The Heroic Couplet .........................................................14
The Stanza .......................................................................16
The Elegy .........................................................................18
The Pastoral ....................................................................20
The Ode...........................................................................22
Open Forms.....................................................................24
Glossary...........................................................................26
Timeline of Shel Silverstein’s Life ....................................27
Poem Analysis – Whatif by Shel Silverstein ....................28

Cover images from http://www.mdavid.com.au/cartoons/images/rhyme.jpg and

http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/gfo/lowres/gfon304l.jpg
 2

The Villanelle

Quick Reference:

 19 lines
 5 stanzas, each of 3 lines, and a final one of 4 lines
 First line of first stanza is also last line of second and fourth stanzas
 Third line of first stanza is also last line of third and fifth stanzas
 These two lines become the last two lines of the poem
 Rhyme scheme: a b a

Summarized History:

Scholars believe that the villanelle originated from Italian harvest fields, although no evidence of this
origin exists. When villanelles become widely known, they were known as a French form. The current
form is the work of the French poet named Jean Passerat. When he died in 1602, he left behind many
famous poems. The villanelle was extremely popular in his day. The villanelle moved to England in the
1870s, and was made even more popular.

Exemplar:

Reading Scheme – Wendy Cope

Here is Peter. Here is Jane. They like fun.

Jane has a big doll. Peter has a ball.
Look, Jane, look! Look at the dog! See him run!

Here is mummy. She has baked a bun.

Here is the milkman. He has come to call.
Here is Peter. Here is Jane. They like fun.

Go Peter! Go Jane! Come, milkman, come!

The milkman likes mummy. The milkman likes them all.
Look, Jane, look! Look at the dog! See him run!

Here are the curtains. They shut out the sun.

Let us peep! On tiptoe Jane! You are small!
Here is Peter. Here is Jane. They like fun.

I hear a car, Jane. The milkman looks glum.

Here is Daddy in his car. Daddy is tall.
Look, Jane, look! Look at the dog! See him run!

Daddy looks very cross. Has he a gun?

3

Up milkman! Up milkman! Over the wall!

Here is Peter. Here is Jane. They like fun.
Look, Jane, look! Look at the dog! See him run!

Visual Representation:

Original Poem:

Model UN is actually very fun

Because there is so much to do.
Once I start I don’t know where I have begun.

Credentialing is all or none

And the first time, we were forced to redo.
Model UN is actually very fun.

For studying we should have jumped the gun

But to the whole process we were new.
Once I start I don’t know where I have begun.

We probably could have used a shotgun

Because the ideas we had were few.
Model UN is actually very fun.

The conference was at the University of Oregon

With our thoughts it was on cue.
Once I start I don’t know where I have begun.

There were so many activities, to do everything I had to run

The only problem was the twelve o’clock curfew.
Model UN is actually very fun
Once I start I don’t know where I have begun.

This poem fits the form of the villanelle with no deviations. It was easy to write.
 4

The Sestina

Quick Reference:

 39 lines
 6 stanzas of 6 lines each followed by an envoi of three lines
 All lines are unrhymed
 The same six end-words must occur in every stanza but in a changing order that follow a set
pattern (lexical repetition)
 Each stanza must follow on the last by taking a reversed pairing of the previous lines
 The first line of the second stanza must have the same end-word as the last line of the first
stanza, and so on
 The envoi must use all six of the end-words

Summarized History:

Arnaut Daniel, the inventor of the sestina, belonged to a group called the troubadours. It was comprised
of twelfth-century poets. The troubadours appeared in France in the twelfth century. It is believed that
their name originated from the verb trobar, which means “to invent or compose verse.” They were
extremely famous, and were celebrated in Europe. The troubadours were court poets – they sang to
French nobles. They competed with each other to make the most difficult styles. This style was called
the trobar clus. The easier style was called the trobar leu.

Exemplar:

Sestina - Elizabeth Bishop
September rain falls on the house.
In the failing light, the old grandmother
sits in the kitchen with the child
beside the Little Marvel Stove,
reading the jokes from the almanac,
laughing and talking to hide her tears.
She thinks that her equinoctial tears
and the rain that beats on the roof of the house
were both foretold by the almanac,
but only known to a grandmother.
The iron kettle sings on the stove.
She cuts some bread and says to the child,
It's time for tea now; but the child
is watching the teakettle's small hard tears
dance like mad on the hot black stove,
the way the rain must dance on the house.
Tidying up, the old grandmother
hangs up the clever almanac
on its string. Birdlike, the almanac
hovers half open above the child,
hovers above the old grandmother
and her teacup full of dark brown tears.
She shivers and says she thinks the house
feels chilly, and puts more wood in the stove.
It was to be, says the Marvel Stove.
I know what I know, says the almanac.
With crayons the child draws a rigid house
and a winding pathway. Then the child
puts in a man with buttons like tears
and shows it proudly to the grandmother.
5

Visual Representation:
But secretly, while the grandmother
busies herself about the stove,
the little moons fall down like tears
from between the pages of the almanac
into the flower bed the child
has carefully placed in the front of the house.

Time to plant tears, says the almanac.

The grandmother sings to the marvelous stove
and the child draws another inscrutable house.

Original Poem: What did I do wrong?

This shouldn’t be happening to me.
Today I sit here, with a cold At me someone must be mad,
Writing this sestina. Or else I wouldn’t have a cold.
Why must I have this punishment? I am starting to dislike sestinas
Did I do something wrong? Oh what a terrible punishment.
Oh, someone tell me
Before I go mad. Woe is me
I am going mad.
I have learned about sestinas, With a terrible cold
I am writing a sestina.
They seem like a punishment.
I feel I should give punishment
It is easy to write them wrongly To someone who did no wrong.
Or at least it seems to me.
They make me very mad Mad, mad, mad;
And I am very cold. All of a sudden it’s not so cold.
Oh, is this a sestina?
Oh, what a punishment; I love punishment
Even when I did no wrong
It seems very wrong.
Now something has happened to me.
I wish this wasn’t happening to me;
I might just go mad. It feels as if my cold and this sestina are wrong
Sitting here with a cold And punishment has driven me mad.
Writing this sestina.

I really didn’t want to write a sestina, as one can see from the above poem. However, learning about
sestinas was very interesting. The poem I wrote is an excellent exemplar of a sestina.
 6

The Pantoum

Quick Reference:

 The length is unspecified, but each stanza must be four lines long
 The first and last lines must be the same
 The second and fourth lines of the first stanza become the first and third lines of the next stanza
 The rhyming pattern for each stanza is a b a b
 The last stanza changes this pattern
 In the last stanza the unrepeated first and third lines are used in reverse and second and fourth
lines

Summarized History:

The pantoum is Malaysian in origin. It came into English culture through France, as many other forms of
poetry have. The name is derived from the Malayan word pantun and French references to it early in the
nineteenth century are to malais pantun. Some poets that used the pantoum are Victor Hugo, Ernest
Fouinet, and Charles Baudelaire, in his pantoum called “Harmonie du soir.”

Exemplar:

The Pantoum – Karen Heywood Was not quite clear to me

While building castles in the sand
I paused a while and pondered.
As I drifted into dreamland
From my castles people wandered.
I paused a while and pondered
What these little creatures were.
From my castles people wandered
Little ma'ams and little sirs.
I had caused their liberation.
All full of gaiety
They sprang from imagination.
I had caused their liberation
As I drifted into dreamland.
They sprang from imagination
While building castles in the sand.

What these little creatures were

Was not quite clear to me.
Little ma'ams and little sirs
All full of gaiety.
7

Visual Representation:

Original Poem:

ISB is quite a school

It’s really very small.
Many kids don’t think it’s cool
But the ninth graders seem really tall.

It’s really very small,

Only about 300 students or so;
But the ninth graders seem really tall
And when it’s 2:05 it’s time to go.

Only about 300 students or so

Every student says they work like a mule.
And when it’s 2:05 it’s time to go,
ISB is quite a school.

Writing this pantoum was definitely the easiest of the three forms so far, probably because of the
unspecified length. Also, the repeating lines make for less use of imagination. My poem could be
considered an example of a pantoum; however, it is very short.
 8

The Sonnet

Quick Reference:

 14 lines, usually iambic

 Two kinds: Petrarchan and Shakespearean
 Petrarchan – octave of six lines (ababcdcd) and sestet of six (cdecde)
 Shakespearean – rhyme scheme is ababcdcdefefgg, final couplet is defining feature

Summarized History:

The Petrarchan sonnet is Italian in origin, and the Shakespearean sonnet was developed in England. The
Shakespearean sonnet has far more than just surface differences from the Petrarchan sonnet. The basic
sonnet’s origin is Sicily, Italy. It took about two hundred years for the sonnet to emerge in England. The
Petrarchan sonnet was created by Francesco Petrarca, who lived in Tuscany and was influenced by
Dante. In England, Thomas Wyatt changed the Petrarchan sonnet into a modern form. Shakespeare
further influenced the sonnet until the Shakespearean form was created.

Exemplar:

Sonnet: The Poet at Seven – Donald Justice

And on the porch, across the upturned chair,

The boy would spread a dingy counterpane
Against the length and majesty of the rain,
And on all fours crawl under it like a bear
To lick his wounds in secret, in his lair;
And afterwards, in the windy yard again,
One hand cocked back, release his paper plane
Frail as a mayfly to the faithless air.
And summer evenings he would whirl around
Faster and faster till the drunken ground
Rose up to meet him; sometimes he would squat
Among the bent weeds of the vacant lot,
Waiting for dusk and someone dear to come
And whip him down the street, but gently home.
9

Visual Representation (Shakespearean Sonnet):

Original Poem:

Writing this sonnet is extremely dull

It’s similar to a quite boring day.
Between every line there is a lull
I don’t think poets wrote these with a “Hey!”
Oh, without poems I could do so much
I could go and eat a very large lunch.
But since writing sonnets is such a crutch,
Fewer times will my hungry mouth go “crunch.”
I envy the day when poems are lost
I mean, come on, who needs them anyway?
The poems will be gone at a high cost
To those who tried to ruin my good day.
But I am forced to write poems, no fun,
Or else in the grade book I will get none.

Obviously, I was very bored when I wrote this sonnet. It fits the form of a Shakespearean sonnet
perfectly. Sonnets were actually one of the more interesting poetic forms to learn about because of the
wonderful poems written in the form.
 10

The Ballad

Quick Reference:

 Short narrative, usually arranged in 4-line stanzas

 Usual meter is first and third lines with iambic tetrameter, and second and fourth lines with
iambic trimeter
 The rhyme scheme is either abab or abcb

Summarized History:

The balladeer is one of the least-defined makers of poetry form. In Ireland, he (or she) was often a
villager. In England, he was most likely standing beside the court. In America, the ballad became part of
the ordinary vocabulary, and the anonymous balladeer vanished from history. The earliest ballad in
written form is called Judas and is in a collection in a Cambridge library. It was probably written in the
fourteenth or fifteenth century. Ballads had not been documented until the nineteenth century when F.J.
Child produced a five-volume archive of ballad versions and alternatives, called The English and Scottish
Ballads. The subject of ballads is distinctive; they are almost always written about lost love, supernatural
happenings, or recent events. The ballad maker often uses popular and local speech.

Exemplar:

Bridal Ballad – Edgar Allan Poe
The ring is on my hand,
And the wreath is on my brow;
Satin and jewels grand
Are all at my command,
And I am happy now.
And my lord he loves me well;
But, when first he breathed his vow,
I felt my bosom swell-
For the words rang as a knell,
And the voice seemed his who fell
In the battle down the dell,
And who is happy now.
But he spoke to re-assure me,
And he kissed my pallid brow,
While a reverie came o'er me,
And to the church-yard bore me,
And I sighed to him before me,
Thinking him dead D'Elormie,
"Oh, I am happy now!"
And thus the words were spoken,
And this the plighted vow,
And, though my faith be broken,
And, though my heart be broken,
Here is a ring, as token
That I am happy now!
Would God I could awaken!
For I dream I know not how!
And my soul is sorely shaken
Lest an evil step be taken,-
Lest the dead who is forsaken
May not be happy now.
11

Visual Representation:

Image taken from: http://www.lclark.edu/~ria/ballad.gif

Original Poem:

One day I lost my brand new bike,

Please don’t ask when or how.
I needed another for work
Else I would be fired.

I took a taxi into town

To buy another bike.
I went to where my money was,
Which was, of course, the bank.

I was very surprised to see

My money was not there.
It seemed that the banker took it
And went on vacation.

I walked back home dejectedly

I was most unhappy.
But look what I happily found –
The bike I’d thought I’d lost!

Writing a ballad was fun because I got to tell a story. My ballad doesn’t rhyme, so it’s not perfect.
 12

Blank Verse

Quick Reference:

 Iambic line with ten stresses and five beats

 It is unrhymed

Summarized History:

Blank verse originates from Italian literature, where it is called verse sciolti da rima – verse free from
rhyme. There was extreme interest at the time in finding an unrhymed line to depict the classical epic.
Italian poets such as Luigi Alamanni and Trissino were already using blank verse for plays, however, their
form of blank verse contained many more syllables. The inventor of blank verse in England was Henry
Howard, Earl of Surrey. He also helped Thomas Wyatt bring the sonnet into England. Christopher
Marlowe stunned audiences with his production of Tamburlaine the Great entirely in blank verse.
Shakespeare also chose blank verse for most of his plays.

Exemplar:

Excerpt from Macbeth – William Shakespeare

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

Visual Representation:

10 syllables in each line. Yo.

13

Original Poem:

This is a fine sample of a blank verse

It has no meaning but it fits the form.
I’m only going to write one more line
Because now I’m feeling very lazy.

My blank verse poem fits the form perfectly, even though the form is very broad and allows for many
variations. My poem, obviously, has no meaning. I liked learning about blank verse because it’s not just a
form for poems; it is also used in most of Shakespeare’s plays.
 14

The Heroic Couplet

Quick Reference:

 Rhyming pair of lines with unspecified poem length

 The meter is usually iambic pentameter but may also be tetrameter
 The rhyming scheme is aabbcc, etc.
 A caesura, or strong pause, is placed after the fifth or sixth syllable

Summarized History:

The heroic couplet evolved out of parts of a poem, more specifically, Chaucer’s rhyming couplet. The
form took the name “heroic couplet” because of its ability to speak about a high subject matter. By the
eighteenth century, the heroic couplet was a widely popular form. It was also used as a witty form, as
shown in Samuel Johnson’s The Vanity of Human Wishes. In the Augustan Age, the heroic couplet was
an excellent model of the society.

Exemplar:

Excerpt from Strange Meeting – Wilfred Owen

Yet also there encumbered sleepers groaned,

Too fast in thought or death to be bestirred.
Then, as I probed them, one sprang up, and stared
With piteous recognition in fixed eyes,
Lifting distressful hands, as if to bless.
And by his smile, I knew that sullen hall,-
By his dead smile I knew we stood in Hell.

Visual Representation:

Image taken from: http://www.nhc.rtp.nc.us/images/hunpope3.gif

15

Original Poem:

This is a poem about a great man

Who lived in ancient times, long time ago.
He did many, many great noble deeds
Too bad I don’t know what any of them are.
I have heard that he was a splendid man
He did everything he could to help out.
I only wish I knew his life better
So I might know what I’m talking about.

My heroic couplet does not rhyme, therefore it is not perfect. However, it is in iambic pentameter and is
phrased in couplets. Learning about heroic couplets was neither boring nor fun; instead it was “neutral.”
 16

The Stanza

Quick Reference:

 Any unit of recurring meter and rhyme

 A poem with lines of the same length is called an isometric stanza
 A poem with lines of different length is called a heterometric stanza
 A loose grouping of lines and paragraphs is called quasi-stanzaic

Summarized History:

In Italian, the word “stanza” means room. The stanza in poetry has that figurative purpose because it
contains lines of the same subject. By the end of the middle ages, the stanza was becoming more and
more interesting to poets. At that time most poets were using heterometric stanzas.

Exemplar:

Night Song at Amalfi – Sara Teasdale

I asked the heaven of stars

What I should give my love –
It answered me with silence,
Silence above.

I asked the darkened sea

Down where the fishes go –
It answered me with silence,
Silence below.

Oh, I could give him weeping,

Or I could give him song –
But how can I give silence
My whole life long?

Visual Representation:

Anything with repeating meter and rhyme. Yo.

17

Original Poem:

Oh, it would make my day

For these poems to go away.

Why must I suffer?

I’m not a duffer.

I need to finish this notebook

Because my grades have me by a hook.

But there is hope so;

There are only four more poems to go.

As one can see by the above poem, I’m getting tired of writing my own poems. However, the stanza
form allowed me to write a poem with more ease than the other forms. It has repeating rhyme, but
there is no repeating meter.
 18

The Elegy

Quick Reference:

The elegy is a poem which mourns for a dead person, lists his or her virtues, and seeks consolation.

Summarized History:

The structure of an elegy is much less visible than a form such as a sonnet. The elegy is said to have been
coauthored by society, with many people adding to the exquisite form and idea. In traditional elegies,
the lamentation is a cultural grief; the mourned person is an exemplar of social virtues, as in Milton’s
“Lycidas.”

Exemplar:

Tears in Sleep – Louise Bogan

All night the cocks crew, under a moon like day,

And I, in the cage of sleep, on a stranger’s breast,
Shed tears, like a task not to be put away –
In the false light, false grief in my happy bed,
A labor of tears, set against joy’s undoing.
I would not wake at your word, I had tears to say.
I clung to the bars of the dream and they were said,
And pain’s derisive hand had given me rest
From the night giving off flames, and the dark renewing.

Visual Representation:
19

Image taken from: http://homepage.mac.com/mseffie/assignments/shalott/art/elegy.jpg

Original Poem:

It is quite a dreadful tragedy

To have had this gracious man pass away.
He was a man of few words
And even less friends.
He helped anyone and everyone
Whenever they were in need.
Oh, we grieve mournfully
For this little-known man.

This poem has neither repeating rhyme nor meter. The book did not specify the need for either,
therefore my poem is an excellent elegy. Learning about elegies was rather boring because of the
sorrowful poems associated with the form.
 20

The Pastoral

Quick Reference:

The pastoral is a form of poetry which imitates and celebrates the virtues of rural life.

Summarized History:

Arcadia, a small Greek area in ancient times, developed a pastoral society, and eventually became a
model for pastorals. In 1504, Jacopo Sannazzaro published L’Arcadia, making the world realize again
that the pastoral was fashionable and visible. By the start of the seventeenth century, the pastoral had
become one of the true poetic forms. Throughout the eighteenth century, the pastoral was a constant.
However, the Industrial Revolution broke the pastoral in the nineteenth century because, quite simply,
there was no more rural life to write about.

Exemplar:

Midsummer, Tobago – Derek Walcott

Broad sun-stoned beaches.

White heat.
A green river.

A bridge,
scorched yellow palms

from the summer-sleeping house

drowsing through August.

Days I have held,

days I have lost,

days that outgrow, like daughters,

my harbouring arms.
21

Visual Representation:

Image taken from: http://www.isu.edu/~wattron/cole_pastoral.jpg

Original Poem:

A land to die for.

The simple life is the best.
Green meadows and white cows
Is all that I need.

I need not worry about city matters

Because I have green meadows and white cows.
The simple life is truly the best.
A land to die for.

Writing this pastoral was actually fun because I thought of the idea of reversing the lines in the two
stanzas. Also, looking at my visual representation made writing the poem easier. Learning about
pastorals was fun because there were many fun pastorals in the book.
 22

The Ode

Quick Reference:

The ode was a poetic form to flatter and exaggerate heroic and elevated things and people.

Summarized History:

In ancient times, in the Pindaric ode, athletes were praised, and statesmen were applauded. The
Romantic movement solidified the ode’s fame with poets. In the nineteenth century, the ode transited
from its old heroic mode and became a form that examined and exalted lyric crisis. It was no longer a
ceremonial form, and the sonnet had majorly influenced it. In the twentieth century, the ode became
almost a lost form.

Exemplar:

Miracle Glass Co. – Charles Simic

Heavy mirror carried

Across the street,
I bow to you
And to everything that appears in you,
Momentarily
And never again the same way:

This street with its pink sky,

Row of gray tenements,
A lone dog,
Children on rollerskates,
Woman buying flowers,
Someone looking lost.

In you, mirror framed in gold

And carried down the street
By someone I can’t even see,
To whom, too, I bow.
23

Visual Representation:

Image taken from: http://www.logoi.com/pastimages/img/hercules_3.jpg

Original Poem:

Hercules was a much-celebrated man;

His accomplishments were great.
He saved many people,
But why not me?

My ode is very short; however, it is very meaningful because it poses a thoughtful question at the end
which has multiple meanings. Since my ode does not talk solely about Hercules’ great deeds, it is not a
perfect ode. Learning about odes was very neutral because since they are similar to heroic couplets, I
skipped through it quickly.
 24

Open Forms

Quick Reference:

Open forms are poems that do not fit any standard poetic form.

Summarized History:

The question “Is form a fiction?” is one that many poets, including Eliot, have tried to answer. In modern
times, many poets do not follow any standard poetic forms. Open form poems give poets a chance to
express themselves in the way that they choose. Open forms also prove that poetic form is a continuum,
and not a finished product.

Exemplar:

I, Too – Langston Hughes

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.

They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.

Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed –

I, too, am America.
25

Visual Representation:

Image taken from: http://pinker.wjh.harvard.edu/photos/cape_cod/images/blue%20sky%20sailboat.jpg

Original Poem:

Open.

Like the picture above?

The sky and ocean seems very open to me.

And now I’ll start daydreaming about the sky and ocean.

And never finish this open form poem and along with it my poetry notebook.

My open form poem is interesting because the only noticeable form within it is the elongation of the
line length as the poem progresses. Learning about open forms was fun because of the huge number of
interesting poems written in forms that are not standard.
 26

Glossary

Alliteration the repetition of consonant sounds, especially at the

beginning of the words
Assonance the repetition of similar vowel sounds in a sentence or
line of poetry
Blank verse a line of poetry or prose in unrhymed iambic
pentameter (five feet (ten syllable) lines with
alternating stress)
Connotation the personal or emotional associations called up by a
word that go beyond its dictionary meaning
Hyperbole an exaggeration of the truth
Imagery figurative language used to create particular mental
images
Metaphor an association of two completely different objects as
being the same thing
Onomatopoeia a word that is formed from sound (i.e. Buzz)
Personification giving human characteristics to animals or objects
Rhyme the matching of final vowel or consonant sounds in
two or more words
Setting words that establish the time and place of a literary
work (its context)
Simile a figure of speech invoking a comparison between
unlike things using “like,” “as,” or “as though”
Symbolism an object or action in a literary work that means more
than itself, that stands for something beyond itself
Specific Tone the implied attitude or a writer (or speaker) toward
the subject and characters of a work
27

Timeline of Shel Silverstein’s Life

September 25, 1930 - Silverstein is born in Chicago, Illinois

1950s - Silverstein is in the U.S. military and is stationed in
Japan and Korea. He learns to play the guitar and draw
cartoons. He draws cartoons for the military
newspaper, Stars and Stripes. His musical talents lead
him to produce songs such as “A Boy Named Sue” for
Johnny Cash and “The Cover of the Rolling Stone” for
Dr. Hook.
1964 - After being introduced to legendary editor Ursula
Nordstrom, Silverstein published The Giving Tree and
Lafcadio: The Lion Who Shot Back.
June 30, 1970 Silverstein’s first daughter, Shoshanna (Shanna), is
born.
1974 - Silverstein publishes Where the Sidewalk Ends. Its
poems and drawings are applauded for their wit and
humor.
1981 - Silverstein publishes A Light in the Attic. It shatters all
previous records by lasting an astounding 182 weeks
on the New York Times bestsellers list.
1982 - Silverstein publishes The Missing Piece.

1984 - Silverstein wins a Grammy Award for Best Children’s

Book for Where the Sidewalk Ends.
Silverstein’s son, Matthew, is born.
1996 - Silverstein publishes Falling Up.

1998 - Silverstein writes a rap version of Shakespeare’s

Hamlet for Playboy magazine.
May 1999 Silverstein dies of apparent heart failure.

2005 Silverstein’s last book, Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook is

published posthumously.
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Poem Analysis – Whatif by Shel

Silverstein
Key – Bold = hard sound, Italic = soft sound

Last night, while I lay thinking here,

The poem starts with a deceptive introduction, setting a soft tone.

some Whatifs crawled inside my ear

This line changes by introducing a hard sound, “crawling,” which brings an idea of intensity.

and pranced and partied all night long

“Pranced” and “partied” are hard sounds, expressing more intensity and action.

and sang their same old Whatif song:

This is another deceptively soft line, setting the reader up for a surprise.

Whatif I'm dumb in school?

“Whatif” is soft, but “dumb” and “school” introduce the series of bad things.

Whatif they've closed the swimming pool?

Whatif I get beat up?
Whatif there's poison in my cup?
Whatif I start to cry?
Whatif I get sick and die?
Whatif I flunk that test?
Whatif green hair grows on my chest?
Whatif nobody likes me?
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Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me?

Whatif I don't grow talle?
Whatif my head starts getting smaller?
Whatif the fish won't bite?
Whatif the wind tears up my kite?
Whatif they start a war?
Whatif my parents get divorced?
Whatif the bus is late?
Whatif my teeth don't grow in straight?
Whatif I tear my pants?
Whatif I never learn to dance?
Everything seems well, and then
This line returns to the misleading soft sounds, again setting the reader up for a surprise.

the nighttime Whatifs strike again!

The conclusion is a mix of sounds, but mostly hard sounds. I believe that “Whatif,” in the midst of bad
things, is a soft sound because even though the narrator is afraid of all the bad things, he knows that the
Whatifs are just his imagination and are not real.