Shel Silverstein

Hard to Please

Hard to Please - meaning Summary

List of Comic Grievances

The poem is a brisk, comic catalogue of a petulant speaker who dismisses nearly everyone they know with rhyming nicknames and quick insults. Meant to be delivered in one breath, its rapid rhythm and piling of brief judgments capture childish impatience and exaggeration rather than serious malice. The humor comes from the relentless, hyperbolic negativity and the energetic performance implied by the single-breath instruction.

Read Complete Analyses

(To be said in one breath) Elaine gives me a pain, Gill makes me ill, Winnie is a ninny, Orin is borin' Milly is silly, Rosy is nosy, Junie is loony, Gussie is fussy, Jackie is wacky, Tommy is balmy, Mary is scary, Tammy is clammy, Abby is crabby, Patt is batty, Mazie is lazy, Tiny is whiney, Missy is prissy, Nicky is picky, And almost everyone Makes me sicky. (Whew!)

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