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. kevin says:

    You remind me of my cousin, shes 14 and her room is worse then the poem you just said

  2. Lauren says:

    This poem reminds me so much of my room I once walked in to my room and didn’t even reconize my own room>

  3. enahs says:

    you are making fun of my room. so what that i dont always take care of it. i usually cant find stuff so i move s%$^#t around to find it. so no more making fun of my room B$#@$h. see ya! ha ha ha ha ha!

  4. tansy says:

    messy people have messy rooms wich gives him/her messy minds

  5. jarron says:

    this poem was great bacause of it’s how you say texture felt like because of the sentence…messy It gives the feel to it but it didn’t get my attention to it. no offense,twizzler.jarron

  6. wilfredo says:

    this poem is for people that don’t clean there room, and the room is very messy.

  7. Zin says:

    This poem is a reflection of my teenage son’s room.Iloved your poems since I was 10.
    .

  8. Neil Patel says:

    This is a great poem..this is exactly like my dorm room.. my roomate fits exactly what mr. silverstein has written.. thanks to this poem i was able to convince my roomate to clean the room..Thanks Mr. Silverstein

  9. Juvie naatsawnan bookemla says:

    everyone it like ya this is like toatly my room when you knoe its not like really who has socke stuck to the wall? i mean come on please i love this poem and Shel Silverstein but people really shouldnt lie about how messy thei room is! its pretty pointless! i love this poem but unlike tose liars out there it doesnt describe my room

  10. Alex says:

    This reiminds mew of my room. I think that Shel Silverstein is one of the best peot and he dose a get job of doing it with this peom.

  11. Yesenia says:

    This poem is hilarious. It goes with me very well. Keep it up!!!!

  12. kristin waterhouse says:

    I printed out the slel silverstien poem with my 10 year old for a project. a second page with a adult ad, printed out with the american poems title. I realy don’t think any childs page should be with anything sexual. please be careful parents and watch and know what is printed out with your chils work. thank you

  13. Angela says:

    Wow! This poem it totally true. I kind of figured out it had a snitch to it from the beginning. So many peoples rooms are like this in America. Especially teenage kids.

  14. Maria la del Trancito says:

    oh my gosh this poem is so true about people…..some dont even care how their room looks like!!! but its also pretty fun!!! its so freaken good!!!!

  15. Alisha Patel says:

    This poem rocks!!!!!!!!!! I love it. Without this poem I wouldn’t have made it to semifinals.
    Thank u, Mr. Silverstein

  16. marina says:

    this poem is a very nice poem and it will have you saying it for a long time!!!!! the kids will love it

  17. Nicole says:

    this poem sounds JUST like ME!!! it is sooo funny…and kinda sad for that guy. my room isn’t THAT bad!
    (\/)
    (**)
    (“”)

  18. Michelle says:

    Silverstein’s poem, Messy room sounds just like my room. I like the way he wrote the ending.

  19. Butters says:

    this poem rocks
    this poem needs locks

  20. David says:

    this one’s better, quite abit too. Very much like a child’s poem, or my room, except i don’t have skis. Still this is the poem i think my friend can use, so he’s getting this one 4 presenting. I like this poem, very well done.

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