Jack Prelutsky

All Poets loved poetry since young, don't they. Well most did, but there were some exceptions.One of these exceptions was Jack Prelutsky. He once said that " there was a time when I couldn't stand the stuff. In grade school, I had a teacher who left me with the impression that poetry was the literary equivalent of liver. I was told that it was good for me, but I wasn't convinced. " Thus it amazes me that he became such an acomplished poet. It was probably because he was not convinced that gave him such resolve to make poetry delightful and humourous, most of his poems are also very funny.

He has imagination that has no limits, thus his poems are mostly out of the box, and exciting, he once said "I realized poetry was a means of communication, that it could be as exciting or as boring as that person or that experience" with that kind of imagination, poems was never the same. He gets his ideas from anywhere and any experience, one example was when he had a bad dinner, then he wrote about it. I feel that his poems, are also very close to everyday life as he writes about what happens to him and and is able to picture it perfectly into poems, I think that to Jack, writng poems are like telling the day's events to a confidante, to him poems are probably a good friend whom he can confide in, as he had said , poems are also a source of communication, it allows other people to also know what he wants to say, or what message he wnts to convey.

Jack Prelutsky is by no doubt a humorous question. When ask what 3 wishes he wanted. He said, he wanted to sing like Pavarotti, paint like Picasso and and dance like Fred Astaire, he then said:" Unfortunately, I dance like Pavarotti, sing like Picasso and paint like Fred Astaire".




Here are some of his poems:

BE GLAD YOUR NOSE IS ON YOUR FACE
Be glad your nose is on your face,
not pasted on some other place,
for if it were where it is not,
you might dislike your nose a lot.
Imagine if your precious nose
were sandwiched in between your toes,
that clearly would not be a treat,
for you'd be forced to smell your feet.
Your nose would be a source of dread
were it attached atop your head,
it soon would drive you to despair,
forever tickled by your hair.
Within your ear, your nose would be
an absolute catastrophe,
for when you were obliged to sneeze,
your brain would rattle from the breeze.
Your nose, instead, through thick and thin,
remains between your eyes and chin,
not pasted on some other place--
be glad your nose is on your face!

LAST NIGHT I DREAMED OF CHICKENS
Last night I dreamed of chickens,
there were chickens everywhere,
they were standing on my stomach,
they were nesting in my hair,
they were pecking at my pillow,
they were hopping on my head,
they were ruffling up their feathers
as they raced about my bed.
They were on the chairs and tables,
they were on the chandeliers,
they were roosting in the corners,
they were clucking in my ears,
there were chickens, chickens, chickens
for as far as I could see...
when I woke today, I noticed
there were eggs on top of me.

AS SOON AS FRED GETS OUT OF BED
As soon as Fred gets out of bed,his underwear goes on his head.
His mother laughs, "Don't put it there,a head's no place for underwear!"
But near his ears, above his brains,is where Fred's underwear remains.
At night when Fred goes back to bed,he deftly plucks it off his head
His mother switches off the lightand softly croons, "Good night! Good night!"
And then, for reasons no one knows,Fred's underwear goes on his toes



SOURCES: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15575
http://www.jackprelutsky.com
http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/poetry/jack_meet.htm

Be glad your nose is on your face,not pasted on some other place,for if it were where it is not,you might dislike your nose a lot.Imagine if your precious nosewere sandwiched in between your toes,that clearly would not be a treat,for you'd be forced to smell your feet.Your nose would be a source of dreadwere it attached atop our head, it soonwoulddrive you to despair,forever tickled by your hair.Within your ear, your nose would bean absolute catastrophe,for when you were obliged to sneeze,your brain would rattle from the breeze.Your nose, instead, through thick and thin,remains between your eyes and chin,not pasted on some other place--be glad your nose is on your face!

Hyperbole: Your nose would be a source of dread were it attached atop our head, it soon would drive you to despair, forever tickled by your hair, the author probably use this because he wanted to emphasize the fact that the nose cannot be atop the head.

Metaphor: imagine your precious nose were
sandwiched in between toes,that clearly would not be a treat, The author agains wants to tell us that the nose is not suited to be between toes

Symbolism : Nose. To me, the nose actually represents us. The author is actually trying to tell us to be happy with what we have.

Why I like this poem: I like this poem because it tells us to be happy with what we have now and not go for far fetched ambitions as it could be catastrophic , but yet it tells us in a very humorous and it uses the nose , which is a body part, something that is part of us, it also tells me very clearly that if my nose was on another position, it would be disastrous, and at the last part of the poem it even says"Your nose, instead, through thick and thin,remains between your eyes and chin,not pasted on some other place--be glad your nose is on your face! " The poem tells things in a very light hearted manner, but yet has a very deep meaning. It does not tell things in a deep in boring way and thus I think it is a very interesting poem .