Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face
By Jack Prelutsky
Be glad your nose is on your face,
not pasted on some other place,
for if it were where it is not,
you might dislike your nose a lot.Imagine if your precious nose
were sandwiched in between your toes,
that clearly would not be a treat,
for you’d be forced to smell your feet.Your nose would be a source of dread
were it attached atop your head,
it soon would drive you to despair,
forever tickled by your hair.Within your ear, your nose would be
an absolute catastrophe,
for when you were obliged to sneeze,
your brain would rattle from the breeze.Your nose, instead, through thick and thin,
remains between your eyes and chin,
not pasted on some other place–
be glad your nose is on your face!
Summary of Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face
- Popularity of “Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face”: Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face’ is a funny yet meaningful piece written by Jack Prelutsky, one of the most influential American poets. It was first published in 2008 in his comic poems written especially for children. In this poem, the speaker asks his readers to be glad about the placement of their noses. He gives examples asking how could it be if the nose somewhere else on the body, and the discomfort you might face. Although the poem is written from the child’s perspective, the moral, deep message, and admiration for the creator are quite prominent.
- “Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face” As a Representative of Fun: This humorous poem is about the suitable placement of our nose. The poem begins with a silly note where the speaker says that one should be happy and thankful for the placement of one’s nose on his face. He adds if it had been pasted on some other part of your body, you might have hated it. He tries to make us realize what would have happened had God placed our noses somewhere else. To make his point clear, he provides some examples to imagine what we would feel had it been attached on the top of our head, or between our toes, or within our ears. What lures the readers is the way he tries to make us realize the importance of being grateful.
- Major Themes in “Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face”: Acceptance, merriment, and mastery of God’s art are the major themes of the poem. This humorous poem shares childlike traits in which the speaker uses childlike examples to express his ideas about acceptance and contentment. He uses the nose as a metaphor to show how even the placement of tiny things brings disaster to us. Using various comic analogies, he gives his audience the importance of being satisfied and grateful for what you have. Therefore, this quaint description of the nose placement helps him convey his feelings even more effectively.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in “Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face”
literary devices are tools that allow the writers to choose their words to create their unique styles and to convey their ideas, feelings, and emotions to the readers. Jack Prelutsky has also employed some literary devices in this poem to share his views about mastery of God’s creation. The analysis of some of the literary devices used in this poem is discussed below.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line. For example, the sound of /ai/ in “you might dislike your nose a lot” and the sound of /a/ in “an absolute catastrophe”.
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as the sound of /r/ in “forever tickled by your hair.”
- Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; instead, it rolls over to the next line. For example,
“Imagine if your precious nose
were sandwiched in between your toes,”
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. For example, “be glad your nose is on your face”, “Imagine if your precious nose/were sandwiched in between your toes” and “your brain would rattle from the breeze.”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between the objects that are different. The poet has used an extended metaphor of nose that represents thankfulness and acceptance.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face”
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. For example, “treat/feet”, “nose/toes” and “thin/chin.”
- Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-lined stanza borrowed from Persian poetry. Here each stanza is a quatrain.
- Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows the AABB rhyme scheme, and this pattern continues until the end.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are five stanzas in this poem with each comprising four lines, also known as a quatrain.
Quotes to be Used
The lines stated below are suitable for teachers or parents to make children value their appearances. It helps them understand that one should be grateful for whatever he has without complaining or changing it.
“Your nose, instead, through thick and thin,
remains between your eyes and chin,
not pasted on some other place–
be glad your nose is on your face!”