Poem Response (Taylor D)

Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face by Jack Prelutsky (1984)
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!


This poem requires one to step back and reflect upon something that is taken for granted each day and is enhanced by humor that makes it light-hearted and relatable. It also assumes the form of rhyming couplets with very simple rhyming words, making it easily understandable for all ages. The common structure of this poem is what some people envision a poem to traditionally be. The ways in which people take for granted the concrete structure of some poems and expect them all to rhyme mirrors the way in which people believe they are simply entitled to having a nose on their face. Although it is a seemingly silly poem, it commands one to “be glad,” a serious effort to force the reader to recognize that this regular body part is essential to life, and without it one could not breathe or experience the wonders of the different smells of the world. Harsh diction such as “dread,” “despair,” and “catastrophe,” evokes a feeling of extreme gratitude for being spared the horrible fate of a misplaced nose. Sensory imagery also helps to create feelings of relief, including the olfactory imagery in “smell your feet,” and the tactile imagery in “your brain would rattle” and the feeling of the nose being “forever tickled by your hair.” These everyday feelings make this poem relatable and the ways in which they evoke aversion add to the gratitude one feels for his nose. The poem is concluded with an exclamatory version of the title, boldly reminding the reader once again of his privileges and hoping that he will now reflect upon the other things in life that he takes for granted.