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The Turtle by Ogden Nash

Introduction

First published in 1601, the poem ‘The Turtle’ was a creation of Ogden Nash. Born August 19th in Rye, New York, Frederick Ogden Nash was the son of a successful businessman named Edmund. His father was a renowned businessman in New Haven, New York, at the time of the setting of this poem. The main topic that the poem addresses pertains to nature; it gives insight and lessons regarding the law of nature using a turtle as an allegory. Some of the elements that are analyzed in this text include emotional resonance, sight, sound, and a summary of the poem. This poem depicts how interesting and superior Mother Nature is; despite being covered by a shell, turtles still find a way of reproducing. The preferred audience for this text is the middle school children, such as those in grades 4 and 5, as it would give them a lot to think about and to appreciate nature more. Such children would find the story of the turtle rather fascinating.

Verse-to-Verse Prose Translation

Verse

The turtle lives ‘twixt plated decks

Which practically conceal its sex

I think it clever of the turtle

In such a fix to be so fertile Prose

Turtles have shells

The shells cover their bodies which make reproductive function difficult.

It is a wise thing to do

But still how comes turtles are very fertile

Summary

The narrative voice in Nash’s poem ‘The Turtle” is an outsider. The voice belongs to a more mature individual who seems to have been studying the turtle. From the seriousness of the narrator’s tone, one can tell that he is from an older generation. In summary, Ogden Nash’s poem is about nature, particularly reproduction. One can clearly tell that the poem is about a turtles’ reproduction. While the philosophical representation of turtles is far from direct, it still exists. Nash uses the turtle to point out how amazing nature is. Turtles tend to have a hard shell and a hard stomach which makes it difficult to tell their sex. Notably, despite these setbacks, sex turtles still find a way of reproducing. The visible characters in this poem are the narrator and the turtle that forms the subject of this poem. The poet Nash uses various poetic devices such as rhyme that help pass its message across. Upon reading Nash’s poem ‘The Turtle,’ readers are left with tons of questions about how turtles reproduce. Nash writes, “…twixt plated decks. Which practically conceal sex.” One can bear witness that the turtle population keeps increasing, yet they are covered in a shell that makes it even telling gender difficult.

Sight

Upon reading this poem, the visual image that immediately comes to mind is the ugly shell that covers a turtle’s body. Immediately one starts to wonder how the turtle must feel like having to put up with the shell. One wonders whether it is a burden as it looks heavy. While reading this book, readers should pay attention to this mental image as it demonstrates the concept of how difficult it must be to reduce while carrying the weight of the shell on its back. It pushes the readers to wonder if the shell even hides its sex, and it is fertile, they how does it reproduce in the first place. Paying attention to this picture is important as it speaks volumes compared to the words themselves.

A turtle in its shell struggling to walk

Sound

Various sounds and lines stand out in the poem, which makes the poem effective and memorable in its message delivery. There is rhyme in the first two lines and the second two lines that follow. In lines 1 and 2, the poet writes, “The turtle lives twixt plated decks. Which practically conceal its sex”. In Line 3 and 4, the poet writes, “I think it clever of the turtle. In such a fix to be so fertile. The words decks and sex have similar sounds, while turtle and fertile also have the same sounds. This creates rhyme. Nash has a clever way of playing around with words that make the poem even more interesting. The rhyme makes the message more clearly by putting emphasis on specific words. For instance, in this case, the words sex, turtle and fertile that point to the main theme of reproduction that is felt throughout the poem.

Emotional Resonance

At first, the poem ignites mixed feelings when a person reads it for the first time. However, with time, the poem exhibits a deep sad and thoughtful mood. The reader is left with a lot of questions about the turtle. When one reads the poem, they feel sorry for the turtle because the narrator makes it seem like the turtle has a difficult time. One wonders whether there is anything they can do to help the situation to make reproduction occur more naturally. Without a doubt, remorse is a familiar feeling when reading this poem. Upon reading this poem, one realizes that there is need to be grateful for everything that comes their way. One suddenly realizes that the turtle is among the creatures that have it rough. One can only imagine how it feels to carry the weight of a shell. The poem evokes feelings of sadness as well as gratitude in the readers. Nash writes, ‘which practically conceal its sex”. By saying this, he wanted to show that if the shell makes it difficult to tell the sex of a turtle, then how do turtles reproduce despite being so fertile. This ignites sadness in the reader. This emotional resonance makes it easy to understanding the meaning of the poem even more. In essence, it helps drive the point of the law of nature home.

Conclusion

Ogden Nash’s poem “The Turtle” speaks to the effectiveness of the law of nature. The poet uses the example of the turtle to show that irrespective of the hurdles that stand in the way reproduction of turtles, nature has a way making it happen. Readers ought to pay attention when reading this poem because the poem’s meaning will not come to them the first time. It may take a few rounds of reading for the readers to grasp what the poem is talking about. Particularly readers should pay close attention to the sounds, feelings, words, and images they encounter when they read the text. College students and high school students would be the perfect target audience for this poem as they are the most curious about how nature works. These people tend to be easily fascinated by wildlife and human nature.

Works Cited

Ogden Nash’s “The Turtle”