Mr. Grumpledump's Song

“Mr. Grumpledump’s Song” is formatted as a singular, 20-line stanza, or group of lines. The poem is written in free verse, meaning that there are no consistent patterns of rhyme, rhythm, or meter throughout the entirety of the piece. Almost every one of the poem’s 20 lines are end-rhymed, meaning that they share a similar sound between the final words. However, Silverstein’s rhyme scheme is extremely erratic. The first four lines of the poem are structured in a traditional AABA rhyme scheme: “Everything’s wrong, / Days are too long, / Sunshine’s too hot, / Wind is too strong” (Lines 1-4). These four lines also share the same meter, each comprised of four beats, or syllables, per line. This pattern is never repeated again, and instead shifts to alternating end rhymes every four lines. Instead of AABA, the poem changes to CDCD at Line 5: “Clouds are too fluffy, / Grass is too green, / Ground is too dusty, / Sheets are too clean” (Lines 5-8). The meter also changes at Line 5, changing from 5 beats to 4 beats every other line from Line 5 through to the poem’s final line, Line 20.