2. About the author
• FredericOgdenNash(August19, 1902 –
May19, 1971)wasanAmericanpoet
well knownfor hislightverse, ofwhich
hewrote over 500pieces. Withhis
unconventional rhymingschemes, he
wasdeclaredby TheNewYork
Timesthe country'sbest-known
producerofhumorous poetry.
Born Frederic Ogden Nash
August 19, 1902
Rye, New York, U.S.
Died May 19,
1971 (aged 68)
Baltimore, Maryland,
U.S.
Resting place East Side Cemetery
Education Harvard University
(for 1 year)
Occupation Poet
Spouse Frances Leonard
Children 2
3. Belinda lived in a little
white house,
With a little black
kitten and a little grey
mouse,
And a little yellow dog
and a little red wagon,
And a realio, trulio,
little pet dragon.
thepoetsays that alittlegirlBelindalivesin
asmallwhitehouse.Thegirlhasmanypets
athome.Shehasasmallkitten whoisblack
incolour,alittlemousewhoisgreyincolour
anda creaturewhowasreallyandtrulya
dragon. Also,therewasalittleredwagon in
thehouse.
Wagon - a vehicle used
for transporting goods
or another specified
purpose
Literary devices used
Rhyme scheme- aabb
i. Repetition - The word little
has been repeated.
ii. Oxymoron - There is use of
two words with opposite
meanings together - pet dragon.
iii. Anaphora - It is the
repetition of a word at the start
of two or more consecutive lines
- (And a little yellow dog and a
little red wagon,
And a realio, trulio, little pet
dragon).
iv. Poetic license - The spellings
have been changed to create a
rhythmic effect - realio, trulio
instead of really and truly.
The tale of custard the dragon
Stanza 1
4. Now the name of the
little black kitten was
Ink,
And the little grey
mouse, she called him
Blink,
And the little yellow
dog was sharp as
Mustard,
But the dragon was a
coward, and she called
him Custard.
the poet tells us about the
names of all the pets that
Belinda has. The black
kitten’s name is Ink, grey
mouse’s is blink, little yellow
dog’s was Mustard and the
dragon was a coward means
he was weak so his name is
Custard
Rhyme scheme - aabb
i. Simile - The dog
has been compared to
mustard using as -
And the little yellow
dog was sharp as
Mustard.
ii. Alliteration - It is
the repetition of a
letter at the start of
closely placed words.
The repetition of the
letter 'c' in coward,
and she called him
Custard.
iii. Anaphora - It is
the repetition of a
word at the start of
two or more
consecutive lines -
(And the little grey
mouse, she called him
Blink,
Stanza 2
5. Custard the dragon had
big sharp teeth,
And spikes on top of him
and scales underneath,
Mouth like a fireplace,
chimney for a nose,
And realio, trulio daggers
on his toes.
Poetic Devices:
Rhyme scheme - aabb
. Simile - The poet has
compared Dragons mouth
with fireplace - mouth like
a fireplace.
ii. Refrain - There is
repetition of the sentence -
And a realio, trulio.
iii. Metaphor - The poet
has compared the dragon's
nose with a chimney -
chimney for a nose.
Stanza 3
In the third stanza, the poet gives us a description
of the dragon’s appearance. The dragon had big
teeth which were sharp, on top of him he had
spikes, which are thin pointed surface, means his
skin was pointed on top. On the lower part, he had
scales, which are thin bony plates to protect the
skin. Since dragons have been thought to release
fire, his mouth has said to be like a fireplace and
his nose is like a chimney to release smoke. His
toes are compared to daggers meaning they are
very sharp .
6. Belinda was as brave as a
barrel full of bears,
And Ink and Blink chased lions
down the stairs,
Mustard was as brave as a
tiger in a rage,
But Custard cried for a nice
safe cage.
Poetic Devices:
i. Alliteration - It is the repetition of
a letter at the start of closely placed
words. The repetition of the letter b
in Belinda was as brave as a barrel
full of bears.
ii. Simile - 1. The poet has compared
Belinda's bravery to that of a barrel
full of bears by using as - as a barrel
full of bears.
2. The poet has compared
Mustards bravery to that of an angry
tiger using as - Mustard was as
brave as a tiger in a rage.
iii. Assonance - Prominent sound of
the vowel 'a' - Belinda was as brave
as a barrel full of bears.
Rhyme scheme - aabb
In stanza 4, we are given a detail of the
strengths of the pets. The poets says that
Belinda was as brave as a barrel (drum,
here group) of bears; Ink and Blink are
so brave that they can hunt for lions;
Mustard, the dog was like an angry tiger
but Custard, the dragon was different.
He was afraid of everything and always
needed a safe place.
Stanza 4
7. Poetic Devices:
i. Refrain - There is
repetition of the sentence -
And a realio, trulio.
ii. Repetition - The words
tickled him have been
repeated.
iii. Allusion - Reference to
a famous person, animal
species or thing - Percival.
iv. Personification - The
poet has personified Ink,
Blink and Mustard, by giving
them the ability to speak -
They rudely called him
Belinda tickled him, she tickled
him unmerciful,
Ink, Blink and Mustard, they
rudely called him Percival,
They all sat laughing in the
little red wagon
At the realio, trulio, cowardly
dragon.
Belinda would tickle (stroke, here tease) the dragon in a cruel way. Ink, Blink
and Mustard would rudely tease him by comparing him to Percival (a knight in
king Arthur’s court), who was assumed to be very brave but would run away
because of lack of courage. They would sit in their red wagon and tease the
dragon.
Stanza 5
8. Belinda giggled till she
shook the house,
And Blink said Weeck!
which is giggling for a
mouse,
Ink and Mustard rudely
asked his age,
When Custard cried
for a nice safe cage.
Belinda would laugh till she shook the
house means her voice echoed in the
entire house. Blink laughed and said
weeck (here, sound made my a mouse)
and whenever Custard would ask for a
safe cage. Ink and Mustard would
tease him by asking his age.
Poetic Devices:
i. Onomatopoeia - The poet
has used these words
which are associated with
sound - giggled and weeck.
ii. Refrain - There is
repetition of the sentence
- "Custard cried for a nice
safe cage."
Rhyme scheme - aabb
Stanza 6
9. Suddenly, suddenly they
heard a nasty sound,
And Mustard growled,
and they all looked
around.
Meowch! cried Ink, and
ooh! cried Belinda,
For there was a pirate,
climbing in the winda
Just when all of them were making fun of
Custard, they heard some nasty (bad)
sound and saw a pirate (a person who
robs ships) climbing up their winda (
used for window). The cast meowed at
him and the dog barked at him; Belinda
made an ‘ooh’ sound. They were all
scared of him.
Poetic Devices:
i. Consonance - The
prominent sound of 's' in
"Suddenly, suddenly they
heard a nasty sound."
ii. Onomatopoeia - The poet
has used these words which
are associated with sound -
Mustard growled, Meowch,
cried ink.
iii. Poetic license - The poet
has changed the spelling of
window to winda to create
rhyme.
iv. Repetition - The poet has
repeated the word suddenly.
v. Alliteration - It is the
repetition of a letter at the
start of closely placed words.
The repetition of the letter 's'
in "Suddenly, suddenly they
heard a nasty sound."
Stanza 7
10. Pistol in his left hand,
pistol in his right,
And he held in his
teeth a cutlass
bright,
His beard was black,
one leg was wood;
It was clear that the
pirate meant no good
In stanza 8, we get a description of the
pirate. The pirate was holding pistols
(handguns) in both hands, a cutlass ( a
short sword with a curved blade) by
his teeth. He had a black beard and
one of his legs were made of wood. It
was clear that the pirate intended to
harm the others in the house.
Poetic Devices:
i. Alliteration - It is the repetition of
a letter at the start of closely placed
words. The repetition of the letter -
B in "beard was black."
H in "he held his."
ii. Imagery - The poet has given the
visual description of the pirate.
iii. Repetition - The word pistol has
been repeated.
Stanza 8
11. Belinda paled, and
she cried Help!
Help!
But Mustard fled
with a terrified
yelp,
Ink trickled down
to the bottom of
the household,
And little mouse
Blink strategically
mousehold
Belinda was so frightened that
she turned pale (yellow) and
started crying for help. Mustard
started crying for help too. Ink
trickled (run) towards the
bottom of the house and the
mouse Blink ran into his
mousehole ( a hole where the
mouse lives).
Poetic Devices:
i. Transferred epithet - When the
adjective used is not for the
word next to it but for some
other noun in the sentence -
terrified yelp. Here, terrified was
used for Mustard, not for yelp.
ii. Repetition - The word help has
been repeated.
iii. Poetic license - The poet has
used the word mouseholed to
make it rhyme with household.
iv. Assonance - 1. Prominent
sound of the vowel 'e' in -
"Belinda paled, and she cried
Help! Help!"
2. Prominent sound of the vowel
'o' in - "down to the bottom of
the household.“
Rhyme scheme aabb
Stanza 9
12. But up jumped
Custard, snorting
like an engine,
Clashed his tail like
irons in a dungeon,
With a clatter and a
clank and a jangling
squirm,
He went at the
pirate like a robin at
a worm.
When everyone was scared of the
pirate, the dragon unexpectedly
showed courage. He jumped onto
the pirate making engine like
sounds from his nose; he hit his tail
on the ground producing heaving
sound of metal being rubbed against
each other. He attacked the pirate
like a robin bird attacking worms.
Poetic Devices:
i. Simile - The poet has compared -
the sound of the dragon with the
sound of an engine using like -
snorting like an engine.
Dragons tail with irons - Clashed
his tail like irons in a dungeon.
dragons attack to a robin bird -
like a robin at a worm.
ii. Onomatopoeia - The poet has
used these words which are
associated with sound - clatter,
clank, jangling.
iii. Imagery - The attack by the
dragon is expressed in a way to
make an image in our minds.
iv. Assonance - Prominent sound
of the vowel 'a' in - "With a clatter
and a clank and a jangling
squirm."
v. Consonance - Prominent sound
of the consonant 'l' - "clatter and a
clank and a jangling squirm."
Stanza 10
13. The pirate gaped at Belinda's dragon,
And gulped some grog from his pocket flagon,
He fired two bullets, but they didn't hit,
And Custard gobbled him, every bit.
The pirate opened his mouth wide open because he was
shocked at the dragon’s actions. He drank some alcohol from
a container in his pocket to gather some courage , after
drinking he fired two bullets on the dragon but it missed him.
Then custard ate up the pirate .
Poetic Devices:
i. Alliteration - It is the
repetition of a letter at the
start of closely placed words.
The repetition of the letter 'g'
in "gulped some grog."
ii. Imagery - The poet has
given a visual description of
the whole scene.
Stanza 11
14. Belinda embraced him,
Mustard licked him,
No one mourned for his
pirate victim.
Ink and Blink in glee did
gyrate
Around the dragon that
ate the pirate.
After the pirate was killed, Belinda
hugged the dragon and Mustard licked
him. No one was sad for the death of the
pirate. Both Ink and Blink happily
danced around the dragon in joy.
Poetic Devices:
i. Alliteration - It is the
repetition of a letter at the
start of closely placed words.
The repetition of the letter 'g'
in "glee did gyrate."
ii. Assonance - 1. Prominent
sound of the vowel sound 'o' -
"no one mourned for."
2. Prominent use of the
vowel 'i' - "ink and blink in
glee did."
3. Prominent use of the
vowel 'a' in "that ate the
pirate."
Stanza 12
15. But presently up
spoke little dog
Mustard,
Id have been twice
as brave if I hadn't
been flustered.
And up spoke Ink
and up spoke Blink,
Wed have been
three times as
brave, we think,
And Custard said, I
quite agree
That everybody is
braver than me.
Quickly after thanking Custard
everyone changed their minds.
They were reminded how they
used to make fun of Custard, but
now they praised him. The dog
said he would be twice as brave
as Custard but he could not do
anything because of confusion.
Ink and Blink said that they
would have been thrice as brave
as the dragon, to this Custard
agreed with them.
Poetic Devices:
i. Repetition - Up spoken has been
repeated.
ii. Consonance - Prominent sound of t
- But presently up spoke little dog
Mustard.
iii. Assonance - Prominent sound of e -
1.have been twice as brave if I hadn't
been flustered.
2.We'd have been three times as
brave, we think.
Stanza 13
16. house,
With her little black kitten and her
little grey mouse,
And her little yellow dog and her little
red wagon,
And her realio, trulio little pet
dragon.
Belinda is as brave as a barrel full of
bears,
And Ink and Blink chase lions down the
stairs,
Mustard is as brave as a tiger in a
rage,
But Custard keeps crying for a nice
safe cage
In the last stanza, we see that everyone has
returned to their old selves after the terrific
incident. Belinda lives in a little white house with
Ink, Blink, Mustard and Custard, the dragon. All
of them are brave but the dragon still needs a
nice safe cage.
Poetic Devices:
i. Refrain - Repetition of the sentence - And a
realio, trulio.
ii. Repetition - The whole stanza has been
repeated.
Stanza 14
17. Message of the poem
The poem is based on the theme that appearances are
deceptive. It brought forth the fact that assessment of
people about themselves and others based on their
appearance is not true. Belinda and her pets, ink a kitten,
Blink a grey Mouse, mustard a yellow dog, who considered
themselves to be brave and custard the Dragon who is
ridiculed as a coward. However when they had to face a
pirate, their true characters were prove to be contrary to
their claims. It was only custard who was ridiculed as a
coward came forward and gave a fierce fight to the pirate
and rescued the so called brave Belinda and her pets
