"Sick"

by Shel Silverstein
"I cannot go to school today,"
Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
"I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash and purple bumps.
My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,
I'm going blind in my right eye.
My tonsils are as big as rocks,
I've counted sixteen chicken pox
And there's one more--that's seventeen,
And don't you think my face looks green?
My leg is cut--my eyes are blue--
It might be instamatic flu.
I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,
I'm sure that my left leg is broke--
My hip hurts when I move my chin,
My belly button's caving in,
My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained,
My 'pendix pains each time it rains.
My nose is cold, my toes are numb.
I have a sliver in my thumb.
My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,
I hardly whisper when I speak.
My tongue is filling up my mouth,
I think my hair is falling out.
My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,
My temperature is one-o-eight.
My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,
There is a hole inside my ear.
I have a hangnail, and my heart is--what?
What's that? What's that you say?
You say today is. . .Saturday?
G'bye, I'm going out to play!"

This is an adorable poem,in which we can all relate to. The speaker of this poem is Peggy Ann Mckay. She is trying to stay home from school by making up ridiculous excuses. "My hip hurts when I move my chin, my belly button's caving in...I have a hole inside my ear "(Silverstein). Then, she realizes that it is Saturday, and her symptoms magically disappear. "You say today is... Saturday? G'bye, I'm going out to play"(Silverstein). By this evidence, the speaker is most likely a child around the ages of seven or eight. The diction in the poem makes certain points that the speaker is trying to get accross, stand out. For example, "My back is wrenched". Wrenched is put in place of the words, bent, and broken. Wrenched, is used instead of these words because it is not commonly used, and it is a stronger word. Because the little kid is using this word, it stresses that this is an exaggitation.

Imagery is another element that silverstein uses to make his poem more relatable. Some concrete images are,"I have measles and the mumps, a gash, a rash and purple bumps...I counted sixteen chicken pox and there's one more--that's seventeen, and don't you think my face looks green? My legs are cut--my eyes are blue"(silverstein). In this part of the poem, Silverstien uses many descriptive words to describe many diseases. When I read this, I thought of a child sitting up in bed, whining, and dramatically emphasizing her symptoms."I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke...my voice is weak, I hardly whisper when i speak" (silverstein). During this part of the poem, I imagine the child's voice slowly getting to a whisper, and holding her throat. This imagery is critical to the understanding of the poem. This made me picture almost exactly what the poet was trying to portray. The rhyme scheme is, AA BB. This gave the poem rhythm, and made it flow nicely. Parodox is another element that is used. When the speaker states, "I cannot go to school today... I have the measles and the mumps" (Silverstein), she is stating that she is too sick to go anywhere. Then, in the end of the poem, the speaker says, "What that? What's that you say? You say today is... Saturday G'bye I'm going out to play"(silverstein)! The character changes from the beginning to the end of the poem when she contradicts herself. In the beginning, the speaker was acting sick, and whiped out. At the end of the poem, the speaker is excited, and energetic. The theme of this poem is not to lie, and if u do lie, you should get all of your facts staight. Sometimes people do not realize how foolish they look when they get caught in a lie.