Daddy Fell into the Pond
By Alfred Noyes
Everyone grumbled. The sky was grey.
We had nothing to do and nothing to say.
We were nearing the end of a dismal day,
And then there seemed to be nothing beyond,
Then
Daddy fell into the pond!And everyone’s face grew merry and bright,
And Timothy danced for sheer delight.
“Give me the camera, quick, oh quick!
He’s crawling out of the duckweed!” Click!Then the gardener suddenly slapped his knee,
And doubled up, shaking silently,
And the ducks all quacked as if they were daft,
And it sounded as if the old drake laughed.
Oh, there wasn’t a thing that didn’t respond
When
Daddy Fell into the pond!
Summary of Daddy Fell Into the Pond
- Popularity of “Daddy Fell into the Pond”: This poem was written by Alfred Noyes, a great English writer. ‘Daddy Fell into the Pond’ is an exciting light-hearted literary piece famous for children enjoying their father’s fall in the pond. It was first published in 1952. The poem revolves around a funny incident that turns a boring day into a hilarious memory. It also illustrates how a simple unimportant moment of joy fills everyone’s heart with sheer delight.
- “Daddy Fell into the Pond” As an Expression of Joy: This poem is about a family whose dismal day turns into a happy one when their father falls into the pond. The poem begins when the family is getting bored. They have nothing special to do and nothing exciting to talk about. However, their boredom turns into something thrilling when they hear that their daddy accidentally falls into the pond. The poet brilliantly narrates the reactions of the family over this funny incident that some are overjoyed, some are excited and some intend to capture this memorable moment through the lens of their camera. Even the dog in the house dances with joy, the gardener slaps his knee and the duck also laughs. The poem wonderfully expresses the importance of happiness.
- Major Themes in “Daddy Fell into the Pond”: Happiness and excitement over simple incidents are the significant themes of the poem. On a surface level, the poem revolves around a simple incident that gives the speaker’s boring family a reason to adore their boring day. It explains how their sadness turns into something exhilarating while seeing their father in a funny situation. While on a deeper level, the poet gives us a lesson that we should count everything as a blessing in disguise to enjoy life and keep these moments of enjoyment in our memory.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in “Daddy Fell into the Pond”
literary devices are tools that express a writer’s ideas, feelings, and emotions. It is through these devices the writers make their few words appealing to the readers. Alfred Noyes has also used some literary devices in this poem to make it appealing. The analysis of some of the literary devices used in this poem is listed below.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such as the sound of /oo/ in “We had nothing to do and nothing to say.”
- Anaphora: It refers to the repetition of a word or expression in the first part of some verses. For example, the word “and” in the last stanza of the poem is repeated to emphasize the point.
“And doubled up, shaking silently,
And the ducks all quacked as if they were daft,
And it sounded as if the old drake laughed.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same lines such as the sound of /r/ in “And everyone’s face grew merry and bright” and the sound of /l/ in “Then the gardener suddenly slapped his knee.”
- Hyperbole: Hyperbole is a device used to exaggerate a statement for the sake of emphasis. The poem exaggerates the situation, making the readers think it is serious at first. Later, it becomes a source of pleasure for others such as, “Give me the camera, quick, oh quick.”
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. For example, “Everyone grumbled. The sky was grey”, “He’s crawling out of the duckweed!” Click!” and “And it sounded as if the old drake laughed.”
- Personification: Personification is to give human qualities to inanimate objects. The poet has personified ducks in the last stanza of the poem such as “And it sounded as if the old drake laughed.”
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. “grey sky” and “dismal day” symbolize sadness.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “Daddy Fell Into the Pond”
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, “bright/delight”, “quick/click” and “say/day.”
- Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-lined stanza borrowed from Persian poetry. Here the second stanza is a quatrain.
- Repetition: There is a repetition of the verse “Daddy Fell into the pond!” which has created a musical quality in the poem and has also become its refrain.
- Refrain: The lines that are repeated at some distance in the poems are called ‘refrain’. The verse “Daddy Fell into the pond!” is repeated with the same words, it has become a refrain as it is repeated twice.
- Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows the AAABCB rhyme scheme in the first stanza; AABB in the 2nd stanza and AABBCDC in the last stanza.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are three stanzas in this poem with each comprising of a different number of verses.
Quotes to be Used
The lines stated below are suitable to refer to when narrating some unforgettable day of someone’s life or describe the sky before it rains.
“Everyone grumbled. The sky was grey.
We had nothing to do and nothing to say.
We were nearing the end of a dismal day.”