key point
The tale of custard the dragon is a ballad. It is a humorous poem about a cowardly dragon named custard.
Custard is a pet of Belinda, a little girl who lives in a little white house with her pets. She had a black kitten named ink, a grey mouse named blink, a yellow dog mustard and a cowardly dragon custard.
The poet says that all of them are very brave except the dragon. Others were described as brave and are compared with animals like bear, tiger or lion but the dragon is very timid.
The poet describes the dragon having big sharp teeth and spikes on top, mouth like fireplace, nose like chimney and toes sharp as daggers.
But one night they are surprised by the entry of a pirate in the house who had pistols in both hands, was holding dagger (sharp knife) in his teeth, had a black beard and one wooden leg.
All of them get frightened and start hiding here and there. But to everyone’s surprise, the dragon not only tackles him but also swallowed him up.
As all of them are saved by custard, Belinda hugged him, Mustard licked him and Ink and Blink danced around him.
Again they start saying that they are more brave and could have handled the situation in a much better way.
Here the poet has tried to say that sometimes a timid person is the actual hero in the toughest situations of
life.
Rhyming Scheme and imagery/tone : The rhyming scheme of stanzas1-12 is aabb and the rhyming scheme of stanza-13 is aabbcc. The imagery shows lots of action and commotion. The tone is humorous and mocking.
poetic Devices
Simile : Mouth like fireplace, -Belinda was as brave as a barrel full of bears, -Snorting like an engine
Alliteration :- and he held in his teeth, -Beard was black
Repetition: -Suddenly, suddenly they heard, -She cried Help! Help!
Oxymoron: Use of two words with opposite meaning” pet dragon”
Poetic License: The spellings have been changed to create a musical effect. (Realio,trulio,winda)
Onomatopoeia: Usage of sound words to create dramatic effect.(giggled, weeck,meowch)
Transferred epithet: When an adjective usually used to describe one thing is transferred to another.
(Terrified yelp)
IMPORTANT QUESTION ANSWER
1.Describe all the characters of the poem.
2. The dragon Custard was a coward. Isn’t it true? Explain.
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