About the Poem
This poem is an example of anthropomorphism in reverse. Joseph is a little boy who really believes that he's a goat and behaves accordingly.
Category
Style
Nonsense Poem
Length
24 lines
Key Stage
KS2, KS3
Author
Max Scratchmann
The Goat Boy
Joseph was a tiresome boy
Who ate a small metallic toy,
And told his Mum he was a goat
While munching on her overcoat.
His mother said, "Look here, me lad,
This goat behaviour’s really bad,
Stop chewing on my hem right now
Or else you'll get a frightful row!"
Joseph swallowed six toy guns
And got a nasty dose of runs
All upon his mother's rug,
He was a quite ill-mannered lug.
His mother then her power did wield,
"As you're a goat, live in that field,
And feed upon the grass and thistles
And sleep upon a bed of bristles".
And so she sent him in the rain
And would not let him home again
Until he promised to be good,
And, cold and wet, he said he would.
But when her back was turned some days
He reverted to his former ways,
And nibbled at the table cloth,
He was a true ill-mannered sloth!
Copyright © Max Scratchmann. All Rights Reserved
