Dirty Face
Shel Silverstein 1930 (Chicago) – 1999
Where did you get such a dirty face,
My darling dirty-faced child?
I got it from crawling along in the dirt
And biting two buttons off Jeremy’s shirt.
I got it from chewing the roots of a rose
And digging for clams in the yard with my nose.
I got it from peeking into a dark cave
And painting myself like a Navajo brave.
I got it from playing with coal in the bin
And signing my name in cement with my chin.
I got it from rolling around on the rug
And giving the horrible dog a big hug.
I got it from finding a lost silver mine
And eating sweet blackberries right off the vine.
I got it from ice cream and wrestling and tears
And from having more fun than you’ve had in years.
About this poem
‘Dirty Face’ by Shel Silverstein is a sixteen line poem that is divided up into one couplet and one set of fourteen lines. The rhyme scheme is very consistent throughout. It follows a pattern of AB CCDDEEFF and so on, until the conclusion. The first two lines are different than the following fourteen due to the fact that they come from a different speaker. This person is a parent and they are addressing a child about their dirty face. The child’s response is the bulk of the poem. It is interesting to note that Silverstein chose to leave the parent’s lines unrhymed but give the child’s words such a consistent pattern. more »
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"Dirty Face" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 6 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/119223/dirty-face>.
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