

You can read about 10 of the Best Ogden Nash Poems here.

Here, the poet implicitly uses the word “beckon” in place of “bacon”. The pun used in the second line makes the irony clear. This simple beginning of Nash’s poem presents an underlying irony. The question is, “What are the uses of the pig?” The poet with certainty answers that it supplies us with different meat products like sausage, ham, and bacon. The poem begins like an answer to a question asked in nursery school. ‘The Pig’ by Ogden Nash introduces the main idea of the poem in the first two lines. Whatsoever, in the last line of the poem, the poet uses another irony and refers to the “stupidity of the pig” in a humorous vein. Apart from that, “heart” associates the pig as a whole. In the third line, there is an alliteration in “his heart”. This line also contains a climax as the ideas are in ascending order of importance. In the second line, the poet uses personification and invests the idea of supplying things in pigs. However, there is also a litote in this line as there are two negative words, “not mistaken” placed side by side to emphasize the poet’s certainty about the fact. The poet uses this literary device to emphasize the cruelty of men on the pigs in the first line. ‘The Pig’ by Ogden Nash begins with irony.

To bring a sense of evenness in the metrical pattern of the poem, the stress can be given on the second syllable making it an iambic foot. However, there is only one variation in the poem.

It means each line of the poem has four feet and the stress falls on the second syllable of each foot, creating a rising rhythm in the poem. The overall poem is composed of iambic tetrameter. There are a total of eight syllables in each line of the text. The metrical composition of the poem is also regular. By using this pun, the poet referred to the pig’s innocence as it unknowingly welcomed men in its territory and got killed. The actual word intended there appears to be “beckon”. It seems that the poet referred to “bacon” as a pun. Here, “bacon” doesn’t correctly rhyme with “mistaken”. There is an interesting twist in the rhyming of the first two lines. In the following two lines, “big” rhymes with “pig”. As an example, in the first two lines, “mistaken” rhymes with “bacon”. This rhyme scheme is also called the regular rhyme scheme. The rhyming scheme of the poem is conventional and the poet uses an AABB rhyme scheme. ‘The Pig by Ogden Nash is a four-line short poem. At the end of the poem, the poet ironically says that it is the stupidity of the pig. Thereafter, in the poem, Ogden Nash humorously refers to “big heart” as it generously gives such items to men. Lastly, bacon is a cured meat obtained from the back or sides of a pig. It is prepared from the upper part of a pig’s leg. It is typically sold raw or fried before eating. Sausage is an item of food that is made from minced pork packed cylindrically in the pig’s skin. Items like sausage, ham, and bacon are the products of pig’s meat. ‘The Pig’ by Ogden Nash is a light poem that briefly talks about what the pig supplies to men. ‘The Pig’ by Ogden Nash is a short four-line poem that humorously talks about the pig.
