Mr. Grumpledump's Song

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1974

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Poem Analysis

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Further Reading & Resources

Related Poems

“Sick“ by Shel Silverstein (1974)

Shel Silverstein’s poem, “Sick,” first appeared in the original edition of Where the Sidewalk Ends (1974), Silverstein’s seminal collection of children’s poetry and line drawings. “Sick” details young Peggy Ann McKay’s clever plan to stay home from school. Peggy, the speaker of the poem, lists all of the various (and oftentimes contradicting) ailments from which she is suffering, increasing in specificity as the poem goes on. “Sick” uses the same list format found in “Mr. Grumpledump’s Song,” establishing a quick pace, overwhelming readers with information throughout one, unbroken stanza. However, unlike “Mr. Grumpledump’s Song,” Silverstein employs a subtle turn at the end of “Sick,” revealing that it is the weekend, and Peggy did not need an ingenious scheme to stay home after all. “Sick” is humorous and whimsical, adding levity to daily inconveniences just like “Mr. Grumpledump’s Song.”

“Nasty School“ by Shel Silverstein (2011)

Every Thing On It (2011) is a collection of poems by Shel Silverstein that was published posthumously by Harper and Row in 2011. The collection contains more than 130 never before seen poems and drawings created by Silverstein before his death. “Nasty School” appears in this collection, showcasing Silverstein’s quintessential humor, word play, and erratic rhyme schemes. While “Mr. Grumpledump’s Song” encourages young readers to complain, “Nasty School” teaches children how to misbehave, slamming doors and rotting their teeth with sugar. Silverstein subverts traditional expectations in both of these poems, imagining a world in which children are free to express themselves no matter if they are happy or sad.

“Yesees and Noees“ by Shel Silverstein (2011)

“Yesees and Noees” appears alongside “Nasty School” in Every Thing On It (2011), and is one of Silverstein’s shortest poems at eight lines in length. “Yesees and Noees” discusses the binary opinions that exist in the adult world, dictating decision making based on societal expectations. Silverstein uses nonsense

language to create a category outside of the binary, Thinkforyourselfees, encouraging children to be independent thinkers. This theme appears in “Nasty School” as well as more subtlety in “Mr. Grumpledump’s Song,” where Silverstein offers children space to blow off steam without the fear of being reprimanded. “Yesees and Noees” packs profundity into a small poem, and is at the same time, playful in Silverstein’s unique way.

Further Literary Resources

“The Forgotten Genre of Children’s Poetry“ by Sharon Ruth Gill (2011)

Author, Sharon Ruth Gill, argues that 20th-century children’s poetry is often ignored within the United States educational system in her essay, “The Forgotten Genre of Children’s Poetry.” Gill notes that there is a strong emphasis on teaching the adult poetic canon to young school children, altering their initial perceptions of poetry as a literary and artistic form. Gill, like Silverstein, asserts that poetry is not a collection of classical works with fixed meanings, but rather, that it is a playground for the thoughts, feelings, and very real experiences of every young writer. Gill’s essay explores the same thematic concerns as Silverstein’s work, highlighting the importance of literature for and about children and the experience of growing up.

“Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll (1871)

“Jabberwocky” is a nonsense poem (see: Contextual Analysis “Literary Analysis”) included in Lewis Carroll’s 1871 novel, Through the Looking-Glass, the sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865). In the novel, Alice finds a book written in a seemingly unintelligible language. It isn’t until Alice holds the book up to a mirror that the verses of the “Jabberwocky,” are revealed: a poem about a young boy who battles and later kills a mythical creature called the Jabberwocky. Silverstein, one century later, employs the same playful, whimsical language within his poems, creating his own creative (and oftentimes made up) words and phrases in the same tradition as Carroll’s “Jabberwocky.”

“The Third Mr. Silverstein" by Richard R. Lingeman (1978)

Journalist for the New York Times, Richard R. Lingeman, reveals the layered identities of author, Shel Silverstein in the archived 1978 article, “The Third Mr. Silverstein.” Silverstein despised interviews, but loved to talk, and as such, his interview with Lingeman provides readers with a more nuanced portrait of himself. Silverstein voices his concerns about childhood emotional development and the impact writers have when committing that period of adolescence to paper. Silverstein’s characteristic dark humor and well-timed wit shine through in this interview, pairing well with his poetry as a means of better understanding the author behind the work.

Listen to Poem

Shel Silverstein recites his children’s poetry in the audiobook recording of Where the Sidewalk Ends

The audio edition of Shel Silverstein’s collection of poetry, Where the Sidewalk Ends, was released in 1983, and went on to win the 1984 Grammy Award for Best Recording for Children. Silverstein performs the original collection himself with the same amount of enthusiasm and joie de vivre that he puts onto the page. The poem, “Mr. Grumpledump’s Song” was added to the print edition of Where the Sidewalk Ends after Silverstein’s death, and therefore does not appear in this recording. However, by listening to Silverstein read the original poems that appear in the same collection, readers gain a deeper understanding of “Mr. Grumpledump’s Song” by proxy. The audio edition of the book was produced by Ron Haffkine, and is available for purchase on Amazon Music.