POEM: MR NOBODY

Lines from the poem Paraphrase (Literal Meaning – maksud

tersurat)Stanza 1I know a funny little man, I know a strange man.As quiet as a mouse, He hardly makes a noise.Who does the mischief that is doneIn everybody’s house!

He is blamed for all the trouble that happens in everyone’s home.

There is no one ever sees his face, No one has ever seen himAnd yet we all agreeThat every plate we break was crackedBy Mr Nobody

But he is blamed when plates get broken. His name is Mr Nobody.

Stanza 2‘Tis he who always tears our books, Nobody admits being responsible for

the torn books.Who leaves the door ajar, Nobody admits to having left the doors

open.He pulls the buttons from our shirts,And scatters pins afar;

Nobody is responsible for tearing the buttons of the shirts; or throwing the pins about

That squeaking door will always squeak,For, prithee, don’t you see,We leave the oiling to be doneBy Mr Nobody.

Nobody is responsible for oiling that squeaky door. The door will always squeak because nobody oils it.

Stanza 3He puts damp wood upon the fire,That kettles cannot boil;

If damp wood is put in the fire so the water in the kettle will not boil, nobody will admit doing it.

His are the feet that bring in mud,And all the carpets are soil.

When the carpets are dirtied nobody admits to coming in with muddy shoes.

The papers are always mislaid,Who had them but he?

The newspaper often goes missing but nobody admits being last one to read them.

There’s no one tosses them aboutBut Mr Nobody

And nobody admits to throwing them all over the place.

Stanza 4The finger marks upon the doorBy none of us are made;

None of us will admit being the person who left the dirty finger prints on the door.

We never leave the blinds unclosed,To let the curtains fade;

Or having left the blinds unclosed.

The ink we never spill; the bootsThat lying around you see

No one admits having spilled the ink. Or having left our boots lying around.

Are not our boots – they all belongTo Mr Nobody

So, for all the acts, the only one to blame is “Mr Nobody”

Language Notes Vocabulary

1. This poem uses some old-fashioned

expressions:

‘Tis which means it is

Mischief – an act that causes harm,

trouble and makes people angry

Cracked – partly broken but not yet

Prithee which means Please

2. This poem also uses some sentence

structure which may be unfamiliar

to you. For example:

There’s no one ever

Meaning: No one ever

Who had them last but he

Meaning: only he could be

the person who had them

last

His are the feet

Meaning: it was his feet

broken into pieces.

Ajar – partly open

Scatter – throw about

Squeak – a high-pitched sound

Soil – to make something dirty

Mislaid – temporarily lost

Tosses about – throws here and

there

Blinds – window covering to keep

the light out

Themes (What is the poem about)

1. When something goes wrong, we always look around for the culprit (pesalah).

We always blame other people for the things that we have done wrong. We

do not want to admit our fault.

2. Many of us refuse to accept responsibilities (tanggungjawab) for jobs that

need to be done.

Moral values

1. Human makes mistakes. If we have done something wrong, we should admit

our mistakes. We should not pretend to be innocent or blame other people for

the mischief that we have caused.

2. We should be responsible about doing the little jobs that need to be done

around the home or school dormitory such as wash dishes, sweep floor, make

beds and so on.