A Funny Man | CBSE Class 7 English Notes

This note covers Natalie Joan's poem "A Funny Man": a stanza-by-stanza summary, the poetic devices, the themes, key quotations and answers to the textbook questions.

Who wrote "A Funny Man", and where does it appear?

"A Funny Man" is a poem by Natalie Joan. It appears in the unit "Wit and Humour" of the Class 7 English textbook Poorvi, and it is drawn from a collection titled Poems Children Will Sit Still For: A Selection for the Primary Grades.

The unit introduction describes the poem as one that "celebrates humour which can be unfamiliar that can spark curiosity and amusement."

The poem has six stanzas of four lines each. It is written in the first person: the poet-narrator describes a chance meeting with a strange man on the street.

Much of the poem is told through dialogue between the narrator and the funny man, which gives it a lively, almost dramatic quality.

The poem's comic effect comes from the man's topsy-turvy actions: he wears his shoe on his head and his hats on his feet, offers a currant bun as if it were a rose, sings an odd song, and finally hops home on his head.

The poem invites readers to enjoy the unfamiliar and the absurd simply for the fun of it.

What happens in the poem, stanza by stanza?

What happens in stanza 1?

The poem opens with the narrator describing a "funny kind of man" who came "walking down this street".

His appearance is immediately odd: "He wore a shoe upon his head / And hats upon his feet." This reversal of ordinary clothing, shoe on the head and hats on the feet, sets up the comic tone of the whole poem right at the start.

What happens in stanza 2?

The man greets the narrator politely. He "raised the shoe and smiled" at her, and his "manners were polite". Despite his bizarre appearance, his behaviour is courteous.

The narrator admits she had "never...seen before / Such a funny sounding sight", stressing the contrast between his good manners and his ridiculous look.

What happens in stanza 3?

The funny man speaks for the first time. He says, "Allow me to present / Your Highness with a rose," addressing the narrator grandly, as if she were royalty.

But instead of a rose, he takes out a currant bun and holds it to her nose, a mismatch between his polite words and his absurd action.

What happens in stanza 4?

The narrator reacts with surprise. She "staggered back against the wall" and answered, "Well! / I never saw a rose with such / A funny looking smell." Her exclamation shows mild shock and amusement at being handed a bun rather than a flower.

What happens in stanza 5?

The funny man then "began to sing a song" and "sat down on the ground". The narrator tells us that one had "never heard in all your life / Such a funny feeling sound," again emphasising how strange and comic his performance is.

What happens in stanza 6?

The narrator finally asks him directly: "My friend, why do you wear two hats / Upon your feet?" Instead of answering in words, the funny man simply "turned the other way about, / And hopped home on his head," ending the poem on a final absurd, wordless image.

What poetic devices does the poet use in this poem?

What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?

Each stanza follows an ABCB rhyme pattern: the second and fourth lines rhyme, while the first and third lines do not. For example, "street" rhymes with "feet" in stanza 1. This light, regular rhyme gives the poem a sing-song, musical quality that suits its playful subject.

What imagery and sound devices are used?

The poet builds vivid, often nonsensical imagery: a shoe on the head, hats on the feet, a rose that turns out to be a currant bun.

The phrases "funny sounding sight" and "funny feeling sound" mix the senses of sight and sound in an unusual way, which adds to the poem's playful confusion.

The poem also uses alliteration, as in "sounding sight" and "hopped home", where neighbouring words share initial sounds.

What effect does repetition have in the poem?

The word "funny" is repeated again and again, describing the man, the sight, the sound and the whole situation. This frequent repetition keeps reminding the reader of the poem's comic, light-hearted tone and ties all the odd details together under one single idea: everything about this man is funny.

Where does the poet use inversion?

In the line "But never had I seen before / Such a funny sounding sight," the poet changes the usual word order (an inversion) to fit the rhythm and rhyme of the poem. In normal order, this would read "I had never seen before such a funny sounding sight."

Who is the funny man, and what makes him funny?

The funny man is the central figure of the poem, though he is never named.

He is defined entirely by his unconventional behaviour: he wears a shoe on his head and hats on his feet, which already reverses the normal use of clothing.

When he meets the narrator, he raises his shoe in greeting and smiles, showing that despite his strange look, his manners are polite.

He speaks grandly, calling the narrator "Your Highness" and offering to "present" her with a rose, but then produces a currant bun instead. This mismatch between his courteous words and his silly action is at the heart of his humour.

He further entertains, or confuses, the narrator by singing an odd song and sitting down on the ground.

When directly questioned about why he wears two hats on his feet, he does not answer in words at all.

He simply "turned the other way about, / And hopped home on his head." This wordless, physical response completes his character as someone who lives entirely by his own strange logic, cheerful, unbothered by questions, and utterly consistent in his topsy-turvy behaviour throughout the poem.

What themes does the poem explore?

Why does the poem celebrate unfamiliar humour?

As the unit introduction notes, the poem "celebrates humour which can be unfamiliar that can spark curiosity and amusement." The funny man's actions do not follow ordinary rules of sense or logic, yet instead of alarming the narrator, they amuse her.

The poem suggests that things which are odd or unfamiliar can still be a source of delight rather than fear.

How does the poem show politeness alongside absurdity?

Even though the funny man behaves in a completely illogical way, he is never rude. He smiles, speaks courteously, and addresses the narrator respectfully. The poem pairs good manners with ridiculous actions, showing that politeness and absurdity are not opposites and can exist together in the same character.

How does the poem use dialogue to build its comic effect?

Much of the poem is carried through direct speech between the narrator and the funny man. His grand announcement about the rose, her surprised "Well!", and her final direct question all unfold like a little scene.

This dialogue form makes the poem feel dramatic and immediate, as if the reader is watching the encounter happen rather than only being told about it.

What are the key quotations from the poem?

He wore a shoe upon his head / And hats upon his feet.

This is the narrator's first description of the funny man, placed right at the start of the poem. It establishes his topsy-turvy appearance immediately, reversing the ordinary places for a shoe and hats, and sets the comic tone for everything that follows.

His manners were polite;

The narrator notes this just after describing his strange look, so the line is important for showing that his courtesy and his absurdity exist side by side. It prepares the reader to expect good behaviour even from so odd-looking a man.

I never saw a rose with such / A funny looking smell.

This is the narrator's surprised reply, spoken right after she is handed a currant bun instead of the rose the funny man had grandly promised. It captures her shock turning quickly into amusement.

You never heard in all your life / Such a funny feeling sound.

Spoken while describing the funny man's song, this line uses a mixed-sense phrase, "feeling sound", to stress just how strange and unfamiliar his singing is to the narrator's ear.

He turned the other way about, / And hopped home on his head.

This is the poem's final line, the funny man's wordless answer to the narrator's direct question about his two hats. It closes the poem on a purely visual, unresolved note of absurdity.

What are the answers to the textbook questions?

True statements: Statement 2 ("The funny man was quite ill-mannered") is false, since the poem says "His manners were polite." Statement 5 ("The funny man gave a rose to the poet") is also false, since he offered a currant bun instead.

Statements 3, 4 and 6 are true: he wore "hats" (two) on his feet, he "hopped home on his head," and he "raised the shoe and smiled" at the narrator.

Statement 1 is broadly true, as the narrator says she had "never heard in all your life / Such a funny feeling sound" about his song.

Word meanings: "a small seedless raisin" is currant (as in "currant bun"); "moved unsteadily" is staggered (as in "I staggered back against the wall").

Tone and rhyme scheme: the tone of the poem is humorous and light because the funny man's behaviour throughout, his clothing, his gift, his song and his exit, is absurd and amusing rather than serious.

The rhyme scheme is ABCB (the second and fourth lines of each stanza rhyme), and this gives the poem a musical, sing-song quality suited to its playful subject.

Repetition of "funny": the poet repeats the word "funny" frequently in order to keep emphasising how strange and comic every single detail of the man and his actions is, tying the whole poem together around one comic idea.

Choosing the correct option: the poem's vivid imagery creates a scene that is humorous and nonsensical; the poem's structure is in dialogue form; and phrases like "sounding sight" and "hopped home" are examples of alliteration.

Rewriting the inverted line: "But never had I seen before / Such a funny sounding sight" in normal word order becomes "I had never seen before such a funny sounding sight."

Why "funny sounding sight" and "funny feeling sound": these mixed, slightly odd phrases match the funny man himself, who is so unusual that even ordinary senses, sight and sound, seem to behave strangely around him, reinforcing the overall comic effect.

Reflecting on the funny man's character: many readers find his politeness the most appealing trait, since he stays courteous and cheerful despite behaving so oddly.

His unusual actions keep the poem's mood light and amusing throughout, since every strange thing he does, the shoe, the bun, the song, the hop, adds another comic touch rather than any sense of threat or danger.

What are phrasal verbs, and how are they used around this poem?

The "Let us learn" section of the chapter points to phrases from the poem such as "walking down", "taking out" and "sat down".

These are called phrasal verbs: combinations of a verb with a preposition or adverb that together function as a single unit, often with a meaning different from the individual words used alone.

The chapter notes that the same verb followed by different prepositions can convey quite different meanings.

The chapter builds this idea with the verb "take": take up means to begin to study, practise or do something; take after means to resemble a family member; take in means to understand or comprehend something;

take over means to assume control or responsibility for something; and take off means to become successful or popular quickly. Students are then asked to match such verbs to meanings and use them in their own sentences.

A further activity lists the words "walking, staggered, hopped" from the poem as different ways of moving, alongside other words like "run", "hop", "sprint", "trot" and "jog", and asks learners to arrange such words in increasing order of pace, connecting the poem's vocabulary directly to everyday movement words.

What is a limerick, and how does the chapter use it?

The "Let us write" section introduces the limerick, described as "a nonsensical and funny verse consisting of five lines." The chapter gives Edward Lear's well-known limerick about an "Old Man with a beard" in whose beard "Two Owls and a Hen, / Four Larks and a Wren" have built their nests, and a second limerick set in Bengaluru about two friends, one who "loved books" and the other who "flew planes".

The chapter states plainly: "Remember all limericks have the same rhyme scheme AABBA." Students are then given a structure to write their own limerick: line 1 introduces a person or place, lines 2 to 4 tell a silly story, and line 5 gives an unexpected ending.

A starter frame is provided: "There was a child from _______ / Who _________________________..." This activity extends the poem's spirit of playful nonsense into the learners' own writing.

How does the poem connect to humour and performance in real life?

The "Let us explore" section links the funny man to funny or witty characters from Indian literature and mythology who "represent wit, humour and mischief while conveying deeper moral lessons." It names Tenali Rama, Birbal, Mullah Nasruddin, and King Vikramaditya and Betal as well-known examples, and invites students to read and share such stories.

The chapter also compares the funny man's acts to modern-day activities. Street performers or clowns, it says, "often dress in unusual ways and do unexpected acts to entertain people," much like the funny man.

His singing and hopping are compared to performance art or abstract theatre, where "artists break conventional rules to create thought-provoking, often humorous experiences," and his behaviour is also said to be "reflected in children's shows to evoke laughter." The chapter notes that the common thread in all these examples is "humour, imagination, and defying logic or expectation."

Finally, the chapter mentions Sukumar Ray, "an Indian poet and illustrator," who "wrote poems in a similar style in his book Abol Tabol," and invites students to share a similar nonsense poem from their own language.

Glossary

• Funny — amusing or causing laughter, used in the poem to describe the man and his actions.
• Currant — a small seedless raisin, used in a currant bun in the poem.
• Staggered — moved unsteadily, as if about to fall, from shock or surprise.
• Polite — having good manners and showing respect towards others.
• Manners — the way a person behaves towards others, especially in terms of courtesy.
• Allow me — a polite, formal way of asking permission before doing something.
• Your Highness — a respectful, formal title used to address royalty.
• Hopped — moved by jumping on one leg or foot, or in an unusual bouncing way.
• Phrasal verb — a verb combined with a preposition or adverb that together carry a single, often different, meaning.
• Limerick — a nonsensical and funny verse of five lines with a fixed rhyme pattern.
• Rhyme scheme — the pattern according to which rhymes occur in a poem, such as ABCB or AABBA.
• Alliteration — the repetition of the same initial sound in neighbouring words, as in "sounding sight".
• Inversion — changing the normal word order in a line, often to maintain a poem's rhythm or rhyme.
• Monologue — a long speech by one person, as opposed to a dialogue between two or more speakers.
• Abol Tabol — a book of nonsense poems by the Indian poet and illustrator Sukumar Ray.

Common errors and misconceptions

• Misconception: the funny man actually gives the narrator a rose. Correct: he offers a currant bun while speaking as if presenting a rose.
• Misconception: the funny man is rude because of his strange appearance. Correct: the poem clearly states "His manners were polite."
• Misconception: the poem's rhyme scheme is AABB. Correct: it follows an ABCB pattern, where only the second and fourth lines rhyme.
• Misconception: "funny sounding sight" and "funny feeling sound" are examples of simile. Correct: these mixed-sense phrases, along with "hopped home", are examples of alliteration and unusual imagery, not simile.
• Misconception: all limericks can have any rhyme scheme. Correct: the chapter states that "all limericks have the same rhyme scheme AABBA."
• Misconception: the funny man explains why he wears two hats on his feet. Correct: he never answers in words; he simply turns away and hops home on his head.
• Misconception: "take up" and "take over" mean the same thing. Correct: "take up" means to begin doing something, while "take over" means to assume control of something.

Exam-style questions with model answers

Q1. What did the funny man wear on his head, as described in the poem? [1 mark]

1. He wore a shoe upon his head, as the poem states: "He wore a shoe upon his head / And hats upon his feet."

Q2. Why did the narrator exclaim "Well!" in surprise after the funny man held something to her nose? [2 marks]

1. She had been promised a rose, as he said, "Allow me to present Your Highness with a rose."
2. Instead, he produced a currant bun, which had "a funny looking smell" quite unlike a rose, surprising her.

Q3. Identify the words from the poem that mean "a small seedless raisin" and "moved unsteadily". [2 marks]

1. "A small seedless raisin" refers to the word "currant", as in "currant bun".
2. "Moved unsteadily" refers to the word "staggered", as in "I staggered back against the wall".

Q4. Describe the funny man's unusual appearance and behaviour, giving four separate details from the poem. [4 marks]

1. He wore "a shoe upon his head / And hats upon his feet", reversing normal clothing.
2. He raised his shoe and smiled politely when he met the narrator.
3. He offered a currant bun while speaking as if presenting a rose to "Your Highness".
4. He sang a song and sat on the ground, then finally "hopped home on his head" instead of answering a question.

Q5. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem, and what quality does it give to the verse? Give three points. [3 marks]

1. The poem follows an ABCB rhyme scheme in each four-line stanza, for example "street" rhyming with "feet".
2. Only the second and fourth lines of each stanza rhyme, while the first and third do not.
3. This regular, light rhyme pattern gives the poem a musical, sing-song quality that suits its playful, humorous subject.

Q6. Explain, with five separate points, how the poem explores the theme of humour through the unfamiliar. [5 marks]

1. The funny man's appearance is immediately strange: a shoe on his head and hats on his feet, reversing normal use of clothing.
2. Despite this odd look, his manners remain polite, pairing courtesy with absurdity rather than rudeness.
3. His gift of a currant bun in place of a promised rose creates a comic mismatch between his grand words and his silly action.
4. His song produces "a funny feeling sound" that the narrator says she had never heard before, again stressing the unfamiliar over the ordinary.
5. His final wordless response, turning away and hopping home on his head, leaves his strangeness unexplained, letting the poem end on pure, unresolved amusement rather than a tidy explanation.

Q7. The poem uses dialogue between the narrator and the funny man. Explain its effect, with three points. [3 marks]

1. The dialogue makes the encounter feel immediate and dramatic, as if the reader is watching the scene unfold.
2. The funny man's own polite, formal speech ("Allow me to present Your Highness with a rose") contrasts sharply with his absurd actions.
3. The narrator's spoken reactions, such as "Well!", let readers share her surprise directly rather than only being told about it.

Key takeaways

• "A Funny Man" by Natalie Joan describes a strange man who wears a shoe on his head and hats on his feet.
• Despite his odd appearance, the man's manners are polite throughout the poem.
• He offers a currant bun while pretending to present a rose, creating a key comic moment.
• The poem's rhyme scheme is ABCB, giving it a light, musical, sing-song quality.
• The word "funny" is repeated often to emphasise the man's strangeness and the poem's humorous tone.
• The poem ends with the man silently hopping home on his head instead of answering a question.
• The chapter links the poem's themes of nonsense and wit to Indian figures like Tenali Rama and Birbal, and to Sukumar Ray's Abol Tabol.
• Phrasal verbs such as "take up", "take after" and "take in" are built around this poem's phrasal verbs like "walking down" and "sat down".

Test yourself

What did the funny man offer instead of the rose he promised?

He offered a currant bun, holding it to the narrator's nose, instead of the rose he had promised.

How did the narrator react when she realised it was a bun, not a rose?

She staggered back against the wall and exclaimed "Well!", surprised by its odd, funny smell.

What happened when the narrator asked why he wore two hats on his feet?

He did not answer; he simply turned away and hopped home on his head.

What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?

The poem follows an ABCB rhyme scheme, with the second and fourth lines of each stanza rhyming.

Name two humorous figures from Indian literature mentioned in the chapter.

The chapter names Tenali Rama and Birbal, along with Mullah Nasruddin and King Vikramaditya and Betal.

What rhyme scheme do all limericks share, according to the chapter?

The chapter states that all limericks share the same rhyme scheme, AABBA.

What does the phrasal verb "take after" mean?

It means to resemble or look similar to someone, usually a family member.

Which Indian poet wrote nonsense poems similar in style to this one?

Sukumar Ray, an Indian poet and illustrator, wrote similar poems in his book Abol Tabol.