Poem ‘The Tale of Custard the Dragon’ by Ogden Nash Summery Analysis

 

The Tale of Custard the Dragon

  By  Ogden Nash

                 

 

 

Belinda lived in a little white house,
With a little black kitten and a little gray mouse,
And a little yellow dog and a little red wagon,
And a realio, trulio, little pet dragon.

Now the name of the little black kitten was Ink,
And the little gray mouse, she called her Blink,
And the little yellow dog was sharp as Mustard,
But the dragon was a coward, and she called him Custard.

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.

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.

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 giggled till she shook the house,
And Blink said Week!, which is giggling for a mouse,
Ink and Mustard rudely asked his age,
When Custard cried for a nice safe cage.

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.

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.

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 was strategically mouseholed.

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.

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.

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 pyrate.

Belinda still lives in her little white house,
With her little black kitten and her little gray 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.

 

About the Poet

 Frederic Ogden Nash (August 19, 1902 – May 19, 1971) was an American poet well known for his light verse, of which he wrote over 500 pieces. With his unconventional rhyming schemes, he was declared the country's best-known producer of humorous poetry.

                           

 

The Tale of Custard the Dragon Introduction

Ogden Nash has written a poem about a little girl Belinda who owns many pets, namely, a black kitten named ink, grey mouse named blink, yellow dog named mustard and a coward dragon named custard. The poet has described every character to be brave except the dragon who is a coward. But the whole situation changes when a pirate attacked Belinda’s house. No one else had the guts to face him, it was the dragon that killed the pirate. All the characters are happy because they are saved by the dragon but quickly change their thoughts and describe themselves to be more powerful had the situation not been so confusing for all of them.

Summary of the poem

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. He always demands a safe place for himself. All the other characters make fun of him. But one night they are surprised by the entry of a pirate in the house. All of them get frightened and start hiding here and there. But to everyone’s surprise, the dragon not only tackles him but also eats him up. As all of them are saved by custard, they thank him. But at the end, they realize that they used to make fun of the dragon because of his being timid. So, all of them suddenly 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.

Structure of The Tale of Custard the Dragon

‘The Tale of Custard the Dragon’ by Ogden Nash is a poem written in the ballad form. However, the humorous elements in the poem make it an ideal example of a parody. Nash through this poem tries to give a moral lesson. Hence, it is also an example of a fable. In a fable, inanimate objects or animals can speak and each character represents a humanly quality like one can find in an allegorical poem. There are a total of 15 stanzas in the poem each having four lines in it. Only the 13th stanza contains six lines. The rhyme scheme of the poem is AABB and it goes on like this. This rhyme scheme is also known as a regular rhyme scheme and Nash preferred this rhyming pattern while composing his “light poetry”. Moreover, the poet uses the rhyme scheme for creating a humorous effect in the poem. The punning quality of the rhyming words also presents irony. Apart from that, the metrical scheme of the poem doesn’t follow the form of a ballad. It is composed of a mixed meter scheme. The lines of the poem are mostly composed of the iambic meter with a few variations of the trochaic meter. Moreover, the poet uses spondees in the poem.

Literary Devices in The Tale of Custard the Dragon

 ‘The Tale of Custard the Dragon’ by Ogden Nash presents zoomorphism in the first two stanzas. Here, the poet invests animals with the qualities of human beings. There is a repetition of “little” in the first stanza that is meant for creating an internal rhythm in the poem. However, the repetition of the “l” sound is also an example of alliteration. The poet also uses anaphora in the first and second stanzas. Moreover, the use of simile is present in phrases such as, “sharp as

Mustard” and “Mouth like a fireplace”. Using the nouns like “Mustard”, “Custard”, “fireplace”, “chimney”, and “daggers”, the poet associates the qualities associated with those nouns to the features of the creatures mentioned in the poem. Such an association of ideas is called metonymy.

Apart from that, the poet uses irony, sarcasm, satire, and innuendo throughout the poem. As an example, “brave as a barrel full of bears” contains innuendo as well as irony. There is an allusion to Percival, one of the knights of King Arthur’s round table. Sounds such as “weeck”, “growled”, “clatter”, “clank”, “jangling”, etc. contain onomatopoeia. Apart from that, there is a tautology in, “At the realio, trulio, cowardly dragon”.

Themes in The Tale of Custard the Dragon

The Tale of Custard the Dragon’ by Ogden Nash presents themes such as appearance vs reality, hypocrisy, courage, love, and jealousy. The main theme of the poem is appearance vs reality. Here, the creatures like the cat, mouse, and dog appear as courageous but in crisis, they reveal their real cowardice. In contrast, the ugly and formidable dragon who is, in reality, dangerous of them all, appears as a coward creature. But, during the crisis he saves everyone. So, someone’s appearance doesn’t make the person powerful. It is on how one reacts when impediments block the way and scare him.

Moreover, the theme of hypocrisy is present in the ninth and thirteenth stanzas. Here, the showy creatures run away when the pirate creeps in. They even give baseless explanations about their fleeting. However, the dragon’s comment adds a cherry at the top of Nash’s irony. He remarks, “I quite agree/ That everybody is braver than me.”

 

                            

 

Paraphrase

Stanza 1
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.
Wagon: a vehicle used for transporting goods or another specified purpose.

 

The poet says that once there was a little girl named Belinda. She lived in a little white house. She lived with some creatures who were her pets. They were a black kitten, a grey mouse, a yellow dog, a little red wagon and a creature that the poet says was really and truly a dragon.

 

Stanza 2
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 explains the name of all the animals that are tamed by Belinda. He says that the name of black kitten is ink. The name of grey mouse is blink. The little yellow dog had yellow colour and so she calls him mustard and the dragon that was a coward means was a weakling was called custard.

Stanza 3
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.

The poet descrides the dragon that it had big sharp teeth and spikes on top. This means that its skin was pointed on the top. On the lower part it had scales which were bony plates to protect the skin. His mouth has been compared to a fireplace because it is assumed that dragons can release fire from the mouth. Even his nose is compared to a chimney which is used to pass out smoke. His feet are like a sharp knife i.e. a dagger.

Stanza 4
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. 

So, now the poet explains the inner strength or the bravery of various characters of the poem. He says that Belinda was as brave as a group of bears and ink and blink were so brave that they could hunt lions. So here he has shown the bravery of the kitten and the little mouse that could hunt even a lion. The dog was very brave just like an angry tiger. But to contrast of all of them was Custard. Custard, the dragon was not brave he was so afraid of everything that he always demanded a safe cage.

Stanza 5
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 used to stroke the dragon in a very cruel way. Ink, blink and mustard made fun of him by comparing him to a knight named Percival who was thought to be brave but ran away due to lack of courage. They used to tease the dragon while sitting in their little red wagon.

 

Stanza 6
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. 

The poet says that Belinda used to laugh so loudly that her voice echoed in the house. Blink, the mouse used to laugh and make a sound of weeck. On the other hand, ink and mustard would tease him by asking the dragon his age whenever he used to demand for a nice safe cage.

Stanza 7
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 

So, while all of them were making fun of the dragon, they heard a sound of someone entering the house. When they looked towards the window they saw a pirate climbing up the wall. The dog barked at him and the kitten meowed to him. Belinda cried ‘ooh’ because all of them were scared of the pirate (who robs ships).

Stanza 8
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 

The poet describes the appearance of the pirate. He says that the pirate was holding handguns in both his hands and had a little sword too. He was holding his sword with his teeth. He had a black beard and his one leg was made of wood. This means that though the pirate was a disabled person but still he was frightening all the other characters. Moreover, he intended to harm them.

Stanza 9
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 mouseholed

 

When all of them saw the pirate they got frightened. Belinda was so frightened that she turned yellow due to fear and started crying for help. Mustard the dog started crying for help too. The kitten ink ran down towards the bottom of the house as if he had already planned for it. The mouse ink ran into his little mouse hole in order to save himself.

 

Stanza 10
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 all the other characters that were earlier defined as very brave got frightened, the dragon did the most unexpected thing. He jumped onto the pirate and made such a strong sound with his nose as if the engine was producing a sound. Not only this, he hit his tail on the ground with great force that it produced a heavy sound of metal being rubbed against each other in the underground prisons. He attacked the pirate just like robin bird that attacks the worms.

 

 Stanza 11
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.

Flagon: a container made of silver in which drink is stored
Gobbled: swallowed hurriedly

 

The pirate got so shocked by the dragon’s reaction that he opened his mouth wide with shock. To gather some strength, he drank some alcohol from a container in his pocket. After gathering some courage, he fired two bullets on the dragon but missed it. Custard the dragon ate every bit of this fierce looking pirate.

  

Stanza 12
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.

 

When the pirate was dead, Belinda hugged the dragon and mustard licked him. No one was sad for the death of the pirate, they all were happy. Both ink and blink were running around the dragon in happiness. So, here the poet says that all the characters were happy and they were showing their gratitude towards the dragon as he had saved them.

 

 

Stanza 13
But presently up spoke little dog Mustard,
I’d have been twice as brave if I hadn’t been flustered.
And up spoke Ink and up spoke Blink,
We’d have been three times as brave, we think,
And Custard said, I quite agree
That everybody is braver than me.

 

After they thanked and showed their love towards the dragon, they changed their mind. They were reminded of how they used to make fun of this coward dragon and now they all were praising him. So at once the dog said that it was just because of some confusion that he wasn’t able to do anything otherwise he would have been twice as brave as custard. Both ink and blink also said that they would have been three times braver than custard. To this, the dragon said that he fully agreed to this that all of them were more powerful and braver than him.

  

Stanza 14
Belinda still lives in her little white 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

 

At last, the poet used the same lines again to show that after this terrific episode in which the dragon was the hero where all the other characters still undermined him by saying that they were more powerful than him and could have handled the situation in a much better way, the poet says that life started again in the same manner. Belinda still lives in that little white house with ink, blink, mustard and custard and all of them are very brave whereas the dragon is still a coward who always wants to stay safe in his cage.

 

 

 

Central Idea of the Poem 

The Tale of Custard the Dragon' is a whimsical fantasy. Belinda lives alone in her house with four pets, a dog, a cat, a mouse and a dragon named Custard. All other dwellers of the house except Custard, pride themselves on their fearlessness. They mock poor Custard for his timidity. However, when the real danger comes all others run away in a panic except Custard. Only Custard fights ferociously and swallows the pirate. The poem ends ironically. After the danger is past, everyone begins to boast again about their courage. Ironically, Custard who fought like a hero against the pirate agrees that everyone else is braver than he is. So, appearances may be deceptive. And even your merit and real value may not be recognized by your unwilling rivals.

 

Style 

Ogden Nash is remembered for his 'non- sense poetry. The story is an unusual one. It is full of rhyming words like 'realio trulio, ink and Blink, etc. The rhyming scheme of the lines is a a, b b. The poem was written especially for children, in fact, looks like a fairy tale: In the poem, we find a fantastical creature like Custard the dragon, as well as everyday creatures like the cat, the dog and the mouse. All these characters are personified", The poet uses the poetic device of an oxymoron when he writes the phrase "pet dragon. Dragons can't be kept as pets. The poet uses similes as poetic devices when he compares the dragon's mouth with a fireplace or compares Belinda with a barrel of bears

 

 

Question and Answers

Q1- Who are the characters in this poem? List them with their pet names.

A1 Following are the characters of the poem:

1.     A little girl named Belinda.

2.     A little black kitten whose name is ink.

3.     A little gray mouse named blink.

4.     A dog named mustard because he is yellow in colour.

5.     A coward dragon whose name is Custard.

 

Q2- Why did Custard cry for a nice safe cage? Why is the dragon called “cowardly dragon”?

A2- Custard cries for a safe cage because he is A coward. He is called cowardly dragon because other characters are defined to be very brave in the following manner:

1.     Belinda is described to be as brave as a barrel full of bears

2.     Ink and blink can chase lions down the stairs

3.     Mustard was as brave as a tiger in rage.

 

Q3- “Belinda tickled him, she tickled him unmerciful…” Why?

A3- Belinda tickled him unmerciful because custard the dragon was a coward. He always demanded a safe cage. That is why all of them made fun of him.

 

Q4- The poet has employed many poetic devices in the poem. For example: “Clashed his tail like iron in a dungeon” — the poetic device here is a simile. Can you, with your partner, list some more such poetic devices used in the poem?

A4- The poet has used many poetic devices to enhance the beauty of the poem. Like, to create rhyme with ‘Belinda’, he used the word ‘winda’ instead of ‘window’. Other such rhyming words are ‘household’ used with ‘mouseholed’ and ‘wagon’ with ‘dragon’. Not only this, he also uses poetic device of repetition for example the word ‘little’ is used many times to describe her house and her pets. There is also the use of poetic device of refrain because we can see the repetition of line “And her realio, trulio little pet dragon” in many stanzas.

 

Q5- Read stanza three again to know how the poet describes the appearance of the dragon?

A5- The looks of the dragon are explained in a way that it has big sharp teeth and spikes on top. This means its skin is pointed on the top. On the lower part it has scales which are bony plates meant to protect the skin. His mouth has been compared to a fireplace because it is assumed that the dragons can release fire from the mouth. Even his nose is compared to a chimney which is used to pass out the smoke. His feet are like a sharp knife i.e. a dagger.

 

Q6- Can you find out the rhyme scheme of two or three stanzas of the poem?

A6- Rhyme scheme of the second and third stanza is aabb.

 

Q7– Writers use words to give us a picture or image without actually saying what they mean. Can you trace some images used in the poem?

A7- Following are the words used to give us picture or image:

1.     Mouth like a fireplace

2.     Chimney for nose

3.     Barrel full of bears

4.     Brave as a tiger in the rage

5.     He went at the pirate like a robin at a worm

 

Q8- Do you find The Tale of Custard the Dragon to be a serious or a light-hearted poem? Give reasons to support your answer.

A8- The Tale of Custard the Dragon is a light hearted poem. All the characters have names which are rhyming with each other. They all are defined to be very brave except the dragon. But in reality the dragon proves to be the real hero. When they are attacked by the pirate, the dragon gulps him. Though all the other characters were not brave enough to handle the pirate but still they define themselves as more powerful than the dragon after the incident is handled by the dragon alone. Though, the dragon was defined as a coward by the poet right from the beginning of the poem.