The Cantaloupe

The Cantaloupe - meaning Summary

Humor on Everyday Observation

Ogden Nash’s short quatrain observes varying cantaloupes—ripe, green, and mushy—and concludes with a wry wish for a fluoroscope to choose good fruit. The poem turns a mundane market scene into a comic remark on uncertainty and consumer desire for certainty. Its playful logic links everyday frustration with an absurd technological solution, producing a punchline that depends on surprise and concise understatement.