Poem Analysis Shel Silverstein4

Peanut-Butter Sandwich

By Shel Silverstein

This poem, like many of Shel Silverstein’s poems, tells a story. It speaks about a “silly young” king who was so crazy about peanut-butter sandwiches that nothing and no one could stop him from eating them. Everything in his kingdom revolved around peanut butter sandwiches: his scepter, his royal gowns, his throne and crowns were covered in peanut butter and all that his subjects could learn in schools was how to make peanut-butter sandwiches.

At a first reading, the very thought of such an obsession, especially when talking about a powerful person like a king, might seem hilarious and the tone of the poem is definitely a playful one. It is, to me, meant to show that even the strongest men have their weaknesses and remind us we are all humans.

The poet skilfully depicts the king’s addiction to the peanut butter sandwiches, offering plenty of details meant to intensify it with every single line. But, at one point, we are told that this love for peanut butter caused the king an accident and made his mouth get tightly stuck. After twenty long years of tears and attempts to open his mouth, all that the king had to say was he would like another peanut butter sandwich. So, in the end we “hear” the poet concluding that despite the others’ efforts we still do what we love most.

I find the poem really great as it creates the very atmosphere of a fairy tale, it is abundant in descriptive language and similar to stories it contains a moral lesson as well: the things we genuinely love in life might cause us problems but we continue to love them anyway. Therefore, I recommend it to those who sometimes forget that we all have our “peanut butter sandwiches” we cannot live without.