The poem can refer to human pride so cas-
ually because it is a concept that is familiar
throughout most cultures. In the Western tradi-
tion particularly, people tend to think of the
human being as the most important of all spe-
cies, the most highly developed and worthy. If
one sees the world as being organized in a hier-
archy that puts human beings on top and all
other animals below, then the hippopotamus,
which has characteristics so far from those of
women and men, would indeed be funny. But
Nash also expresses the idea that the worldview
of the hippopotamus likewise puts its own spe-
cies at the center of the universe, thereby making
the hippopotamus the universal standard of
beauty. By attributing the same pride to the
hippopotamus as to the human being, the poem
shows pride not as a serious defect of character
but instead as a natural result of each being’s
limited existence.Style
Humor
There are at least three types of humor on dis-
play in ‘‘The Hippopotamus.’’ The first and most
obvious one is the kind of mocking humor men-
tioned in the second line: human beings laugh at
the hippopotamus for what they perceive as the
animal’s shortcomings.
The second kind of humor derives from
overstatement. In line 5, for instance, the poet
addresses the hippopotamus with excessive for-
mality, as if it were a spiritual being rather than
an animal. By contrast, the poem’s third line
exaggerates the speaker’s unhappiness when he
thinks of how humans look to the hippopota-
mus, making a moment of embarrassment sound
like deep, mortifying regret.
The most obvious source of humor comes
in the poem’s last word. Nash uses a word that
sounds made up, one that has a cheerful, silly
sound, to playfully poke fun at pride and self-
importance. In ending the poem this way, he
gently derides the complex laws of the English
language and their reliance on tradition, which in
itself reflects the attitude shown by the poem. In
the poem, Nash presents the traditional view that
the human figure is the standard of physical
excellence, a standard other animals are expected
to meet; in drawing attention to how language
can sound odd, Nash reminds readers that pride
and self-importance are just as arbitrary and sit-
uational as are the rules of pluralization.Anthropomorphism
The viewing of nonhuman things as having
human thoughts and emotions is referred to as
personification. A particular subcategory of per-
sonification is anthropomorphism, which attrib-
utes to natural phenomena, and particularly to
animals, characteristics that are associated with
humans.
A classic example of anthropomorphism
at work occurs here when the poet wonders
what hippopotamuses think of human beings.
Though it cannot be determined for certain,TOPICS FOR
FURTHER
STUDY Make a list of words with irregular plurals
and then another list with words that rhyme
with them. Weave the two lists into a light-
hearted song or poem that you can recite for
your class.
Whataresomeofthemostpressingissues
facing the world today, and how do you
think they might be solved? Compose a
short, humorous poem that also presents a
serious moral principle. How easy or difficult
is it to fashion such a poem? Write a brief
essay detailing how the exercise affected your
understanding of ‘‘The Hippopotamus.’’
This poem mentions how humans look to
hippopotamuses. Look at yourself from the
perspective of the next animal that you see,
and write a report that it would give to other
animals on what is and is not sensible about
the human body.
Do hippopotamuses really delight in seeing
one another? Study what attracts one hippo-
potamus to another and other aspects of their
mating life, such as whether they are monog-
amous beings. Make a chart of physical char-
acteristics and behaviors that you think
would make a hippopotamus a good pro-
spective partner for another hippopotamus.The Hippopotamus