Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
His underwear is hanging on the lamp.
His raincoat is there in the overstuffed chair,
And the chair is becoming quite mucky and damp.
His workbook is wedged in the window,
His sweater’s been thrown on the floor.
His scarf and one ski are beneath the TV,
And his pants have been carelessly hung on the door.
His books are all jammed in the closet,
His vest has been left in the hall.
A lizard named Ed is asleep in his bed,
And his smelly old sock has been stuck to the wall.
Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
Donald or Robert or Willie or–
Huh? You say it’s mine? Oh, dear,
I knew it looked familiar!

Analysis, meaning and summary of Shel Silverstein's poem Messy Room

212 Comments

  1. jedicomno says:

    This is am awesome peom i can realate to it!!

  2. alley says:

    it was a nice poem!

  3. spencer says:

    This poem was tight

  4. Chris Hardy says:

    Well written and very funny well done

  5. Nathaniel says:

    This poem is really funny! It made it interesting by all the details. I especially like the part at the end when the author forget it was his own room he was looking at and said that whosoevers room it is should be ashamed.

  6. Sierra says:

    this is a great poem it is filled with fun and cool stuff ROCK ON SIVERSTEAN!!!!!!!!

    Sierra

  7. Alondra says:

    well my first visit in this website and this poem is so awesome!!! I’m going to use it for my poetry booklet.Thanks alot for the idea i hope i get an A.:)

  8. Janna MarieKoffman says:

    This is a really ggod and funny poem that I am using for my poetry project. People say poetry is relaxing, but I don’t know about this one!
    jk.

  9. Vivian Wei says:

    I can’t visualize a messier room than this one, however, I can see that the host feels quite at home. That’s enough.

  10. RR Ludwig says:

    The Messy Room is a good poem that uses alot of imagery. It is a very descriptive poem that describes a boy’s room as very messy. It is not a very intellectually deep poem and i kinda like that because it is easier to understand.

  11. Amber says:

    Hello I think this poem is equivelent to my house. I think it has alot of reasoning in it. And alot of humor. It also makes me think of my room. I can also relate to it alot. I think anyone like Fergus Wong is crazy not to get it! It is so funny! It made me laugh so badly my throat hurts.

  12. Tia says:

    This peom is wonderful!!!! it made me laugh through the whole thing!!! this is the best poem i have read so far!

  13. Erika says:

    Dude, this poem is sweeet! The problem is, my room is waay messier!!:)

  14. jboy says:

    i love all shel silverstien poems i have all the books it is awsome but i was looking for ickle me pickle me two whover is reading this try to find it ickle me picle me tickle me two is a awsome poem and so is this!! ^_^ *_*

  15. Kia says:

    I like this poem alot….I think I like it so much because i can relate to it…lol…I think I will use it in my poetry portfolio for L.A. in school….I really like it!!!!

  16. William Richardson says:

    This poem by Shel is exactly what my room is like!!

    jk

  17. Will Richardson says:

    Im doing this poem for a report i am doing i chose it because its awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  18. riyana says:

    this poem plus all ur other poems are so cool
    i like this one especially because i can relate to it….lol!!!

  19. Ozan Akipek says:

    Ur poem rocks!!!! It really helped me in my poem hunt for my humanities class!!!!!!! Your in my top 3 poets!!!!!! You rock!!!!!!!!!!

  20. Fergus Wong says:

    I don’t really get it… Good try though

Leave a Reply to Nathaniel Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Do you have any comments, criticism, paraphrasis or analysis of this poem that you feel would assist other visitors in understanding the meaning or the theme of this poem by Shel Silverstein better? If accepted, your analysis will be added to this page of American Poems. Together we can build a wealth of information, but it will take some discipline and determination.