Sick

Shel Silverstein


About Shel Silverstein

Shel Silverstein (1930 - 1999) was an American poet who became famous for his books for children. The Giving Tree and the poem 'Where the Sidewalk Ends' are some of his noted works.

'I cannot fo to school today'

Said little Peggy Ann McKay.

 

'I have the measles and the mumps,

A gash, a rash and purple bumps.

 

My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,

I'm going blind in my right eye.

 

My tonsils are as big as rocks,

I've counted sixteen chicken pox

And there's one more- that's seventeen,

And don't you think my face looks green?

My leg is cut - my eyes are blue -

It might be instamatic flu.

 

I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,

I'm sure that my left leg is broke -

My hip hurts when I move my chin,

My belly button's caving in,

My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained,

My' pendix pains each time it rains.

 

My nose is cold, my toes are numb.

I have a silver in my thumb.

 

My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,

I hardly whisper when I speak.

 

My tongue is filling up my mouth,

I think my hair is falling out.

 

My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,

My temperature is one-o-eight.

My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,

There is a hole inside my ear.

 

I have a hangnail, and my heart is - what?

What's that? What's that you say?

You say today is ___ Saturday?

G'bye, I'm going out to play!'

Available Answers

  1. 1.

    Why was Peggy feeling Sick?

  2. 2.

    How many chicken pox did she have?

  3. 3.

    What had happened to her legs and eyes?

  4. 4.

    Find three examples of alliteration from the poem.

  5. 5.

    What did Peggy mean by the term 'instamatic flu'? What do you think is the characteristic feature of 'instamatic flu'?

  6. 6.

    'My tonsils are as big as rocks.
    I have counted sixteen chicken pox'

    1. Identify the figure of speech in this extract.
    2. What does the speaker mean by counting chicken pox?
    3. What happened immediately after the speaker courted the number of chicken poxes she had?
9 more answer(s) available.

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