This is one true-blue nursery rhyme that the Ministry of Education people do not know who actually wrote. Why they choose this piece of poem is beyond the comprehension of the man in the street.
Now that the students are saddled with it,let me try to make some sense out of this poem.
So who is this Mr. Nobody? Is he a trouble maker? If so, how does he do his mischief? Or is he some poor chap who is made to be the fall guy for both acts of commission and omission?
Let us look at this poem closely and see whether the poet has given us sufficient clues along the way to implicate Mr. Nobody for all the dastardly acts.
I know a funny little man,
As quiet as a mouse,
Who does the mischief that is done
In everybody’s house!
There’s no one ever sees his face,
And yet we all agree
That every plate we break was cracked
By Mr. Nobody.
‘Tis he who always tears our books,
Who leaves the door ajar,
He pulls the buttons from our shirts,
And scatters pins afar;
That squeaking door will always squeak,
For, prithee, don’t you see,
We leave the oiling to be done
By Mr. Nobody.
He puts damp wood upon the fire,
That kettles cannot boil;
His are the feet that bring in mud,
And all the carpets soil.
The papers always are mislaid,
Who had them last but he?
There’s no one tosses them about
But Mr. Nobody.
The finger marks upon the door
By none of us are made;
We never leave the blinds unclosed,
To let the curtains fade;
The ink we never spill; the boot
That lying round you see
Are not our boots-they all belong
To Mr. Nobody.
There are only 4 stanzas. It is written in the rhythmic form of AB-CB.There is plenty of imagery being used here. This literary device is well used to bring out vividly the nasty things that happens in everyone's house.
Let us look at the context of the poem.
In stanza 1,the poet introduces us to Mr. Nobody. He describes him as a quiet person though he has never seen his face. Mr. Nobody is very mischievous. In everyone's home he has become a mischief-maker.
Let us look at the incidents of mischief caused by Mr. Nobody.
In stanza 2,he was found tearing pages from books. He likes to pull buttons from clothes as well as to scatter pins all over the place. As usual,expect him to open a door and yet to leave them ajar. The worse thing was that he failed to oil the doors when it was his job and as such they squeak!
In stanza 3, we can see that Mr Nobody likes to play tricks. When wood is needed to put on a fire, he will bring in damp woods which will fail to burn. As the water in the kettle could not boil,no one could have hot water to drink.He is also irresponsible walking into the house with his muddy feet that soil the carpets. If newspapers are found mislaid or the pages being tossed around,it was definitely Mr. Nobody's handiwork for he was always the last to read the newspapers.
Mr. Nobody has dirty hands. He carelessly leaves marks on the door.He is also most forgetful as he leaves the blinds unclosed fading the curtains in the process. Then, it was he who spills ink in the house be it on the floor or on the desk. Finally, he is totally irresponsible as well as disorganised;leaving his boots all around the house.
Now that we have blamed Mr. Nobody for acts of commissions, omissions or even things that are in fact due to mother nature,can we identify clearly who this Mr. Nobody is? Is he the Invisible Man?
Mr. Nobody is definitely someone very close to us. It is someone in the house. He is likely a family member. Worse, it could be our-self.So when things go wrong,what is our natural reaction? We like to point fingers at others if we can get away with it.
In the poem,it would certainly be easy to find that someone who left the boots around the house.You cannot avoid being marked as the guilty party unless someone else have used your boots. The same goes for that someone who got into the house with muddy feet that soiled the carpet.
As for the other mayhem around the house,it will be due to our own carelessness if plates gets cracked or pins get scattered. The same goes for forgetting to close the doors or the blinds. Purposely tearing pages from books is a nasty habit we cannot condone and the guilty party must be found and disciplined. Allowing books to be torn is sheer carelessness and reflects our lack of sense of pride of possession.Sense of pride will also prevent us from leaving hand and finger marks on the doors.
Then there are things that naturally comes off because of wear and tear. For instance, buttons that come off from our clothes could be from too much or careless washing and doors will creak if they are not maintained by regular oiling since rust forms naturally on hinges.
As for the case of the damp wood being used to keep the fire burning, it could be sheer carelessness or lack of knowledge. This is pardonable as we can train someone to do things right.
In conclusion, we are Mr. Nobody and Mr. Nobody is Mr. Everybody. We all have obligations and responsibilities and we must do our duties to keep the house in ship-shape. Nothing less will do.
William Henry Davies philosophical poem extolling living life in a more relaxed mode makes one interesting reading. I remembered reading it as a nursery rhyme in my primary school days. It was such fun to memorize it and then even act it out during the annual school concert in December those days.
