The poem, ‘the height of ridiculous’ is based on the happy mood of the poet that shows his happiness
The poem is a humorous one written for enjoyment, with plenty of funny expressions. The main purpose of the poet is to simply entertain the reader.
Word meaning
Ridiculous : Too funny to believe
Merry : cheerful and lively
Exceeding: be greater in number or size than
Queer : strange , Odd
Albeit : though
sober : clear headed, Serious
Slender: slim, lean
trifling jest : a small simple joke, of no Importance
Grin : smile broadly
Chuckling : laugh quietly
Tumbled : having fallen or collapsed
Wretched: in a very unhappy or unfortunate state.
There’ll be the devil to pay: There will be a huge amount of trouble
Appreciation
The poem “The Height of the Ridiculous’ is by Oliver Wendell Holmes.
The rhyme scheme of the poem is abcb. There are many figures of speech, like Hyperbole, Onomatopoeia, Tautology, Alliteration, etc. but the one that stands out is Transferred Epithet. In the line Ten days and nights, with sleepless eye’, the adjective ‘sleepless’ should be for the man and not for the eye.
The poem is a humorous one written for enjoyment, with plenty of funny expressions. The main purpose of the poet is to simply entertain the reader.
Figures of speech
| Lines | Figures of Speech | Explanation |
| In wondrous merry mood | Tautology | Here, The words wondrous and merry mean the same thing. |
| They were so queer, so very queer. | Repetition | Here, The word ‘queer’ is repeated two times for poetic effect. |
| And saw him peep within | Tautology | Here, The words saw and peep means the same thing. |
| The grin grew broad. | Alliteration | Her, The sound ‘g’ is repeated twice for poetic effect. |
| And shot from ear to ear | Hyperbole | Here, the wideness of the grin is exaggerated to show that servant found the poem to funny. |
| He broke into a roar | Onomatopoeia | Here, the word roar denotes the sound of laughter. |
| Ten days and nights with sleepless eye | Transferred Epithet | Here the eye has not bee said to be sleepless. The adjective or the modifier ‘sleepless‘ describes the type of eye the speaker has been experiencing |
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Other poems from the textbook of SSC Maharashtra Board
1.1 Where the mind is without fear | Explanation and appreciation | English Medium | Maharashtra Board
1.3 All the World’s a Stage | Explanation and appreciation | SSC Board | English Medium | Maharashtra Board
2.1 Animals | Explanation and appreciation | English Medium | Maharashtra Board
2.4 The pulley | Explanation and appreciation | English Medium | Maharashtra Board
3.1 Night of the scorpion | Explanation and appreciation | SSC English Medium | Maharashtra Board
4.4 The Height of the Ridiculous | Explanation and appreciation | SSC English Medium | Maharashtra Board
