Mr. Grumpledump's Song

The title of Shel Silverstein’s poem, “Mr. Grumpledump’s Song” characterizes the poem’s speaker through his nonsensical surname, “Grumpledump.” Silverstein relies on the tradition of nonsense poetry, combining words and phrases like “grumpy,” “grumble,” and “down in the dumps” to create an altogether new word (see: Contextual Analysis “Literary Context”). The denotations of each combined word reveal a speaker that is bad-tempered, irritable, and all together frustrated. However, the garble of syllables when read aloud also sounds silly (see: Literary Devices “Diction”). This onomatopoetic device highlights how Silverstein uses a clever levity and humor to appeal to younger audiences by making light of the poem’s otherwise grumpy speaker.

Silverstein frames the poem as a “song” within the title. Poems and songs are extremely similar compositions, the only difference being that songs are set to music. Silverstein’s use of unpredictable metrical and rhythmic features throughout the entirety of the poem creates something akin to music when read aloud (see: Literary Devices “Form and Meter”). Like a jazz composition, readers have no idea what is coming next, making “Mr. Grumpledump’s Song” an extremely dynamic and engaging piece. Similarly, by giving possession of this song to the titular Mr. Grumpledump, Silverstein brings further artistry and irony to the curmudgeonly complaints of the poem; even a litany of pessimism can be creative and musical.

The speaker asserts within the very first line of the poem that “everything’s wrong,” establishing a tone of frustration that snowballs throughout the following lines (Line 1). The poem is constructed as a list of complaints (see: Literary Devices “Form and Meter”). However, a majority of the complaints are blanket statements, assuming every grievance as its own truth no matter how vague. The speaker of the poem provides no metric by which to measure his grievances, instead repeating the adverb “too” as the only descriptor for why “everything’s wrong” (Lines 1-2). For Mr. Grumpledump, every facet of life is to a higher degree than is desirable to him: “Days are too long, / Sunshine’s too hot, / Wind is too strong” (Lines 2-4). Every new line brings a new complaint. Mr. Grumpledump makes observations about every mundane and ordinary aspect of everyday life, including the world around him, lamenting that: “clouds are too fluffy, / grass is too green, / ground is too dusty, / sheets are too clean” (Lines 5-8). Silverstein’s use of contradiction (see: Literary Devices “Diction”) exposes that the speaker is complaining simply for the sake of complaining, finding fault in the things he cannot control.

The lines of the poem are short and succinct, never exceeding five beats, or syllables, per line. These clipped lines mirror the speaker’s curt attitude, leaving little room for readers to disagree with Mr. Grumpledump’s point of view due to his purposeful choice to underexplain rather than overexplain his grievances.

Silverstein characterizes Grumpledump as stuck in his ways by adding circularity to the poem (see: Literary Devices “Circular Narrative”). The poem begins and ends with the same blanket statement: “everything’s wrong,” showing how the speaker’s pessimism persists across the 20 lines (Lines 1, 20). The speaker comes to no new conclusions; yet, Silverstein is less concerned with Mr. Grumpledump’s growth, and more concerned with the expression of his negative emotions. By creating a character that is perpetually in a bad mood, Silverstein shows his young audiences that it is okay, and actually quite healthy, for them to acknowledge and explore their more explosive emotions such as annoyance, anger, or despair. Mr. Grumpledump personifies irritation and lessens it through humor, providing a safe space for children to creatively interact with and further understand their emotional spectrums.