Chapter 4.4 – The Height of the Ridiculous
The poet once wrote some funny lines, when he was in a wondrous merry mood. According to him, the lines were very good; and so queer, that he laughed so much that he would die.
He called his servant, a mighty huge man and asked him to take those lines to the printer. The servant was curious and anxious to know what was written, so he peeped into the lines and started reading them.
This triggered a chain reaction. First he grinned, then he made a chuckling sound, later he broke into a roar. On reading the fifth line, his waist band split and on reading the sixth line, his five buttons burst off.
He tumbled in a fit and fell down. The poet had to take care of his servant for ten days and nights, without sleeping. He made up his mind, never again to write such funny lines again.
Title: The Height of the Ridiculous
Poet: Oliver Wendell Holmes
Rhyme scheme:
The rhyme scheme of the poem abcb, defe, …
Favourite line:
Ten days and nights, with sleepless eye,
I watched that wretched man.
Theme/Central idea:
The whole poem is an exaggerated account of the poet writing a funny poem. The poem was so funny that he thought he would die laughing. After he handed it to his servant, to send it for printing, the servant read it and feel sick for ten days. The poet had to take care of him and he vowed never to write a funny poem again.
Figures of speech:
Antithesis; ‘To mind a slender man like Me, He of the mighty limb. Hyperbole; ‘The fifth his waist band split. The sixth he burst his buttons off. Transferred Epithet; ‘Ten days and nights with sleepless eye.’
Special features:
The tone of the poem is humorous and it is meant to be a funny, exaggerated narration. The poet uses alliteration and imagery to create the visual comedy of the servant’s condition. The poem is semi autobiographical as the narrator is also a poet.
Why I like the poem:
I like the poem because it is a hilarious depiction of an exaggerated situation.
Ridiculous : Too Funny to believe
wondrous : delightful
Albeit : though
sober : clear headed, serious
trifling jest : a small simple joke, of no importance
wretched : (here) in a helpless condition
Warming up!
Individual activity
1. The teacher writes incomplete sentences on the board. He/She asks the studentsto complete them in their notebooks.
(a) Today, I am happy because ________.
Ans: Today, I am happy because I received a gift from my mother.
(b) Today after the class, I wish ________.
Ans: Today after the class, I wish to go home and sleep.
(c) Tomorrow, I feel that ________.
Ans: Tomorrow, I feel that I should go for a movie.
(d) I want to laugh because ________.
Ans: I want to laugh because the incident is very funny.
(e) Today, the class seems to be cheerful about ________.
Ans: Today, the class seems to be cheerful about the fact that there are no tests scheduled.
2. The teacher writes an incomplete sentence and asks the students to complete it in a funny way.
For example,
(1) Mother gave me cheese but the cat ate it.
(2) I went to the market and bought an elephant.
Ans: Students should do this on their own.
3. Give the words related to:
Ans:
Syllable
A syllable is a unit of spoken language made up of a single uninterrupted sound formed by a vowel and consonants. For example, single syllable – ant, two syllables – water, three syllables – Inferno.
4. Pick out the word from the given box and write it in the correct columns below.
jump, narrow, cable, live, queen, butter, tree, kitten, van, yellow, dale, happy, night, printer, star, sober, paper, cloud, pearl, within, bike, began, slender.
Here the focus is not on the spellings but the pronunciation of the words.
Ans:
5. Count the syllables and circle the appropriate number in the box.
Ans:
6. Write the names of any five of your friends and mention the number of syllables in each name.
Ans:
(i) Rahul – 2 syllables
(ii) Ursula – 3 syllables
(iii) Tom – 1 syllable
(iv) Amit – 2 syllables
(v) Shriya – 2 syllables
In Between The Poetry
Q1. In what frame of mind did the poet write some lines?
Ans: The poet was in a wondrous, merry mood – a happy mood.
Q2 What was the contrast in the narrator and his servant?
Ans: The narrator was a slender person and small in stature. He was a serious and sober man, whereas the servant was a huge man. Physically he was of a mighty limb, that is, he had a big height and was tall and strong. He also had a terrific sense of humour.
Q3. When did the servant grin?
Ans: The servant grinned, when he read the first line.
Q4. When was the chuckling noise heard?
Ans: The chuckling noise was heard when he read the third line.
Q5. Which line suggests that servant was totally out of control?
Ans: The sixth line, ‘he burst five buttons off and tumbled in a fit’- This line suggests that the servant was totally out of control.
Q6. What was the impact of this experience on the poet?
Ans: The servant became sick and the poet had to take care of him for ten days and nights. As a result, the poet decided that he would never again write such funny poems.
ENGLISH WORKSHOP
1. Find out expressions from the poem that indicate funny moments.
For example, I laughed as I would die.
Ans:
And shot from ear to ear.
A chuckling noise, I now began to hear.
He broke into a roar.
His waistband split.
He burst five buttons off.
2. Order of sequence : Arrange the following reactions in their proper order, as per the poem.
(a) His waistband split
(b) The grin grew broad.
(c) Sleepless eye.
(d) Was all upon the grin.
(e) He broke into a roar.
(f) He burst five buttons off.
Ans:
(i) Was all upon the grin
(ii) The grin grew broad
(iii) He broke into a roar
(iv) His waistband split
(v) He burst five buttons off
(vi) Sleepless eye.
3. Form pairs and find out the various rhyming words in the poem and two of your own. Complete the following table.
Ans:
4. Match the lines with the Figures of Speech.
Ans: (1 – a) ; (2 – d) ; (3 – e) ; (4 – b) ; (5 – f) ; (6 – c) ; (7 – g )
5. Copy any two stanzas of the poem in the lines below. Using a coloured pen underline the stressed syllables in each line and put a stress-mark ( ) over each.
Ans:
6. Complete the lines of the poem by choosing proper pairs of rhyming words and make it meaningful.
– We returned home late, one ________,
In the window, there glowed a ________.
Burglars !! was our very first ________;
For defence, sticks ‘n stones we ________
”Let’s grab the loot and ,________”
was uttered soft, by ________.
The door we softly ________,
And then we were truly ________.
Oops! Before, outside, we’d ________,
The television had been left ________.
(run, shocked, gone, night, sought, on, someone, thought, light, unlocked)
Ans:
We returned home late, one night
In the window, there glowed a light
Burglars !! was our very first thought
For defense, sticks ‘n stones we sought
“Let’s grab the loot and run
Was uttered soft, by someone
The door we softly unlocked
And then we were truly shocked
Oops! Before, outside, we’d gone
The television had been left on
8. Go through the poem and write an appreciation of the poem in a paragraph format. (Refer to page no. 5)
Ans: The poem The Height of the Ridiculous’ by Oliver Wendell Holmes is a humorous poem written for enjoyment. with plenty of funny expressions. The main purpose of the poet is to simply entertain his audience.
The rhyme scheme of the poem is ab cb. There are many figures of speech, like Hyperbole, Tautology, Onomatopoeia, Alliteration, etc. but the one that stands out is Transferred Epithet.
In the line, Ten days and nights, with sleepless eye’ the adjective sleepless’ should be for the man and not for the eye. This is a humorous poem. The special feature of the poem are the expressions that indicate funny moments. The reader forms a mental picture and enjoys the poem. My favorite line is The sixth, he burst five buttons.
I like this line because I can imagine the way the man must have been laughing till he burst the buttons on his coat. I like the poem because it is a light Simple and entertaining poem.
9. Project :
Reading a poem.
Arrange the poetry reading competition. Select the poem of your choice.
- Read the poem silently.
- Repeat the reading of the poem.
- Focus on the pauses, stresses, intonation etc.
- Pay attention to the proper pronunciations.
Ans: Students should do this on their own.