Q1.
Let us Recite — Papa’s Spectacles. Read the poem aloud and enjoy it.
Answer
Here is the whole poem. Read it aloud twice. The second time, read it as if you are telling the story to a friend.
Today our papa
Is searching everywhere,
He has lost his spectacles,
It was his only pair!
He can’t read the newspaper,
He can’t watch TV,
He can’t cut the vegetables,
Oh! Where can it be?
He checked inside his pockets,
He glanced under his chair,
He searched near the window,
He looked everywhere.
I told him, “Stop, Papa!”
I went up close, and said!
“Papa, your spectacles
Are right there on your head!”
Is searching everywhere,
He has lost his spectacles,
It was his only pair!
He can’t read the newspaper,
He can’t watch TV,
He can’t cut the vegetables,
Oh! Where can it be?
He checked inside his pockets,
He glanced under his chair,
He searched near the window,
He looked everywhere.
I told him, “Stop, Papa!”
I went up close, and said!
“Papa, your spectacles
Are right there on your head!”
What happens, stanza by stanza:
- Stanza 1 — the trouble begins. Papa has lost his spectacles. He has only one pair, so there is no spare.
- Stanza 2 — why it matters. Three of his daily jobs stop at once. He cannot read the newspaper, watch TV or cut the vegetables.
- Stanza 3 — the big hunt. He looks in his pockets, under his chair, near the window — everywhere.
- Stanza 4 — the surprise. The child goes close and tells him the spectacles are on his own head.
Tip for reciting: Say stanza 1 and 2 in a worried voice. Say stanza 3 quickly, as if you are hurrying with Papa. Then stop, slow right down, and say the last two lines gently — that is where the laugh is.
Why the poem is funny: The spectacles were never lost. They were on Papa’s head the whole time. We laugh because the answer was the easiest place of all, and nobody looked there.
Rhyme: The second and fourth lines of each stanza rhyme — everywhere / pair, TV / be, chair / everywhere, said / head. That is what makes the poem easy to remember.