Judith Viorst
Judith Viorst is the author of the beloved Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, which has sold some four million copies; the Lulu books, including Lulu and the Brontosaurus; the New York Times bestseller Necessary Losses; four musicals; and poetry for children and young adults. Her most recent books of poetry include What Are You Glad About? What Are You Mad About? and Nearing Ninety. Source
Mother Doesn't Want a Dog
Mother doesn't want a dog.
Mother says they smell,
And never sit when you say sit,
Or even when you yell.
And when you come home late at night
And there is ice and snow,
You have to go back out because
The dumb dog has to go.
Mother doesn't want a dog.
Mother says they shed,
And always let the strangers in
And bark at friends instead,
And do disgraceful things on rugs,
And track mud on the floor,
And flop upon your bed at night
And snore their doggy snore.
Mother doesn't want a dog.
She's making a mistake.
Because, more than a dog, I think
She will not want this snake.
Published:
1981
Length:
Regular
Literary Movements:
Children's
Anthology Years:
2022
Themes:
Family
Humor & Satire
Literary Devices:
Anaphora
a figure of speech in which words repeat at the beginning of successive clauses, phrases, or sentences
End Rhyme
when a poem has lines ending with words that sound the same
Imagery
visually descriptive or figurative language, especially in a literary work
Irony
the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect
Polysyndeton
the repetition of conjunctions frequently and in close proximity in a sentence
Repetition
a recurrence of the same word or phrase two or more times