Louder than a Clap of Thunder: Poem by Jack Prelutsky – ICSE Class 5 English Literature

Louder than a Clap of Thunder by Jack Prelutsky is a poem that is included in the English Literature syllabus for ICSE Class 5 students.

The Poem

Louder than a clap of thunder;
louder than an eagle screams,
louder than a dragon blunders,
or a dozen football teams,
louder than a four alarmer,
or a rushing waterfall,
louder than a knight in armour
jumping from a ten-foot wall.

Louder than an earthquake rumbles,
louder than a tidal wave,
louder than an ogre grumbles
as he stumbles through his cave,
louder than stampeding cattle,
louder than a cannon roars,
louder than a giant’s rattle,
that’s how loud my father SNORES!

Summary of the Poem

We hear several types of sounds throughout the day. In this poem, the poet Jack Prelutsky humorously compares the sound of his father’s snoring with various kind of sounds. At the end of the poem he says that the snoring of his father is louder than all those sounds.

In the first stanza, the poet refers to the sounds of – a clap of thunder; the screaming of an eagle; the blunders of a dragon; a dozen of football teams, four alarmer of the fire brigade, rushing of a waterfall, the jumping of a knight in armour from a ten-foot wall.

However, he says that all these are not as loud as the snoring of his father.

In the second stanza, the poet refers to other sounds such as – the rumble of an earthquake, a tidal wave, the grumble of an ogre as he stumbles through his cave, the sound of the stampeding cattle, the roaring of a cannon, the rattle of a giant. Even these sounds fade in comparison to the snoring of his father.

Question and Answers

Making Connections

Question: Draw lines to match the pictures to the sounds or noisy movements described in the poem.

grumbles = Ogre

rushing = Waterfall

screams = Eagle

roars = Cannon

clap = Thunder

blunders = Dragon

Read these lines and answer the questions that follow.

a. “louder than a cannon roars, louder than a giant’s rattle, that’s how loud my father SNORES!”

Question: What are the two sounds described in these lines?

Answer: The two sounds that are described in these lines are – the roars of a cannon and the rattle of a giant.

Question: Why does the poet list these sounds?

Answer: The poet lists these sounds to compare them with the snoring of his father and to show that his father snores louder than all these sounds.

Question: Which other word in the poem is a synonym for ‘giant’?

Answer: The other word in the poem which is a synonym for ‘giant’ is ‘ogre’.

b. “louder than an ogre grumbles as he stumbles through his cave, louder than stampeding cattle

Question: Which two words in these lines describe movements

Answer: Two words in these lines which describe movements are – stumbles and stampeding.

Question: Which word best describes the ogre : ‘clumsy’ or ‘sure-footed’

Answer: The word which best describes the ogre is – ‘clumsy’.

Question: Circle the three words that rhyme most closely with ‘cattle’ and ‘rattle’.

Answer: battle; prattle; and tattle;

Question: Of all the sounds listed in the poem, which one do you think would be the loudest? Give a reason for your choice.

Answer: Of all the sounds listed in the poem, I think the grumbles of an ogre would be the loudest. The ogre is a giant creature found in the fairy tales. As the ogre is the largest thing or creature among all the things described in the poem, so his sound will be the loudest amongst all.

Question: What do you think makes this poem humorous?

Answer: I think the last line of the poem makes the poem humorous. The poem has been started in a serious tone, describing such loud and threatening sounds. The readers must have got an assumption that they are being compared with a much more serious or dangerous sound. But at the end of the poem we come to know that the poem is comparing all those scary sounds with the snoring of his father only. This makes the poem all humorous and enjoyable to read.

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