Boa Constrictor
Boa Constrictor - meaning Summary
Humor Meets Growing Panic
Shel Silverstein's "Boa Constrictor" presents a comic yet unsettling narrative of a speaker being slowly eaten by a snake. The poem tracks the escalating, physical progression from toe to neck with light, conversational language that turns increasingly panicked. Its repetitive phrasing and abrupt muffled ending mix childlike humor with grim absurdity, making an everyday-sounding mishap feel both ridiculous and ominous.
Read Complete AnalysesOh, I'm being eaten By a boa constrictor, A boa constrictor, A boa constrictor, I'm being eaten by a boa constrictor, And I don't like it--one bit. Well, what do you know? It's nibblin' my toe. Oh, gee, It's up to my knee. Oh my, It's up to my thigh. Oh, fiddle, It's up to my middle. Oh, heck, It's up to my neck. Oh, dread, It's upmmmmmmmmmmffffffffff . . .
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