Analysis of First Child... Second Child

Ogden Nash 1902 (Rye, New York) – 1971 (Baltimore)



Be it a girl, or one of the boys,
It is scarlet all over its avoirdupois,
It is red, it is boiled; could the obstetrician
Have possibly been a lobstertrician?
His degrees and credentials were hunky-dory,
But how's for an infantile inventory?
Here's the prodigy, here's the miracle!
Whether its head is oval or spherical,
You rejoice to find it has only one,
Having dreaded a two-headed daughter or son;
Here's the phenomenon all complete,
It's got two hands, it's got two feet,
Only natural, but pleasing, because
For months you have dreamed of flippers or claws.
Furthermore, it is fully equipped:
Fingers and toes with nails are tipped;
It's even got eyes, and a mouth clear cut;
When the mouth comes open the eyes go shut,
When the eyes go shut, the breath is loosed
And the presence of lungs can be deduced.
Let the rockets flash and the cannon thunder,
This child is a marvel, a matchless wonder.
A staggering child, a child astounding,
Dazzling, diaperless, dumbfounding,
Stupendous, miraculous, unsurpassed,
A child to stagger and flabbergast,
Bright as a button, sharp as a thorn,
And the only perfect one ever born.

Arrived this evening at half-past nine.
Everybody is doing fine.
Is it a boy, or quite the reverse?
You can call in the morning and ask the nurse.


Scheme AABBCCDDBBEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMM NNOO
Poetic Form
Metre 110111101 111011011 11111110010 1100101 101001001010 1111100010 1010010100 10111101100 1011111101 101001101011 10010101 11111111 1010011001 1111111011 10111001 10011111 1101100111 1011100111 101110111 0010111101 10101001010 1110100110 0100101010 1001100 010010001 01110010 110101101 0010011101 011101111 1001101 110111001 11100100101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,251
Words 223
Sentences 11
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 28, 4
Lines Amount 32
Letters per line (avg) 31
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 497
Words per stanza (avg) 111
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Submitted by RobertHaigh on July 20, 2020

Modified on May 03, 2023

1:09 min read
184

Ogden Nash

Ogden Nash (1902-1971) was, during his lifetime, the most well-known American writer of light verse, and his popularity has continued after his death. His witty style has been imitated by many, but none have quite equalled the old master. more…

All Ogden Nash poems | Ogden Nash Books

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