The Tale Of Custard The Dragon Poem by Ogden Nash

The Tale Of Custard The Dragon

Rating: 3.5


Belinda lived in a little white house,
With a little black kitten and a little gray mouse,
And a little yellow dog and a little red wagon,
And a realio, trulio, little pet dragon.

Now the name of the little black kitten was Ink,
And the little gray mouse, she called her Blink,
And the little yellow dog was sharp as Mustard,
But the dragon was a coward, and she called him Custard.

Custard the dragon had big sharp teeth,
And spikes on top of him and scales underneath,
Mouth like a fireplace, chimney for a nose,
And realio, trulio, daggers on his toes.

Belinda was as brave as a barrel full of bears,
And Ink and Blink chased lions down the stairs,
Mustard was as brave as a tiger in a rage,
But Custard cried for a nice safe cage.

Belinda tickled him, she tickled him unmerciful,
Ink, Blink and Mustard, they rudely called him Percival,
They all sat laughing in the little red wagon
At the realio, trulio, cowardly dragon.

Belinda giggled till she shook the house,
And Blink said Week! , which is giggling for a mouse,
Ink and Mustard rudely asked his age,
When Custard cried for a nice safe cage.

Suddenly, suddenly they heard a nasty sound,
And Mustard growled, and they all looked around.
Meowch! cried Ink, and Ooh! cried Belinda,
For there was a pirate, climbing in the winda.

Pistol in his left hand, pistol in his right,
And he held in his teeth a cutlass bright,
His beard was black, one leg was wood;
It was clear that the pirate meant no good.

Belinda paled, and she cried, Help! Help!
But Mustard fled with a terrified yelp,
Ink trickled down to the bottom of the household,
And little mouse Blink strategically mouseholed.

But up jumped Custard, snorting like an engine,
Clashed his tail like irons in a dungeon,
With a clatter and a clank and a jangling squirm
He went at the pirate like a robin at a worm.

The pirate gaped at Belinda's dragon,
And gulped some grog from his pocket flagon,
He fired two bullets but they didn't hit,
And Custard gobbled him, every bit.

Belinda embraced him, Mustard licked him,
No one mourned for his pirate victim
Ink and Blink in glee did gyrate
Around the dragon that ate the pyrate.

But presently up spoke little dog Mustard,
I'd been twice as brave if I hadn't been flustered.
And up spoke Ink and up spoke Blink,
We'd have been three times as brave, we think,
And Custard said, I quite agree
That everybody is braver than me.

Belinda still lives in her little white house,
With her little black kitten and her little gray mouse,
And her little yellow dog and her little red wagon,
And her realio, trulio, little pet dragon.

Belinda is as brave as a barrel full of bears,
And Ink and Blink chase lions down the stairs,
Mustard is as brave as a tiger in a rage,
But Custard keeps crying for a nice safe cage.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Molly Wakeman 09 June 2009

it is a wonderful poem and makes me want to cry because my brother sang it in his school concert

23 11 Reply
Molly Wakeman 27 January 2022

dont care

2 2
Molly Wakeman 21 March 2022

dO care.

1 0
Kathelene Tietjen 31 March 2007

This wonderful poem was read to me by my grandfather nearly every night as I grew up. It is absolutely my favorite poem. Now I read it to my grandsons from the same old four volume set of Ogden Nash's poetry that I inherited from my grandfather.

17 6 Reply
Phil Karn, Sr 18 January 2016

I had the pleasure of meeting Ogden Nash several times when I filled his prescriptions. Even though he was a very sick man, he kept his pleasant personality. I asked him once if he had coined a term for the forced rhymes he invented and he jokingly said that he just called them his mistakes.

3 0
? ? ? ? ? ? ? 07 March 2022

baddddddddd

1 3 Reply
dum person 25 February 2021

poo

1 12 Reply
John Bruins 11 November 2020

I was raised on this poem. I would always ask my dad to recite it at bedtime. I always loved the part about Custard eating the pyrate. I have since memorized it, and have passed this down to my sons, and will soon to my grandsons. My youngest son even wrote a paper entitled, " Custard's Past" in high school. Yes, the stanza near the end does seem to break the meter of this poem, but maybe that was Nash's intention. Love this poem regardless.

6 0 Reply
Ava May 11 June 2020

I really like this poem and I love that Custard is Brave, but he still wants a safe cage.

7 1 Reply

IT IS REALLY BRILLIANT.THANKS FOR SUCH A NICE PRESENTATION YOU IDIOT,DUFFER,STUPID PERSON.

2 16 Reply
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Ogden Nash

Ogden Nash

New York / United States
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