‘Yertle the Turtle’ was published on April 12, 1950, by Random House. It contains three stories but the first, the title story, is best-known. Since then, the book has sold more than a million copies and has been included on the Publishers Weekly list of the best-selling children’s books of all time.
Explore Yertle the Turtle
- 1 Summary of Yertle the Turtle
- 2 Structure and Poetic Techniques in Yertle the Turtle
- 3 Analysis of Yertle the Turtle
Summary of Yertle the Turtle
‘Yertle the Turtle’ by Dr. Seuss tells the story of King Yertle the turtle who decides to build himself a throne out of other turtles.
The first stanzas of the poem describe the turtle kingdom and how at first everything was peaceful and happy. But, Yertle the king decides that he wants to increase his kingdom. This means making a bigger throne so that he might survey the lands around him. The power goes to his head and he adds more and more turtles to the stack until one turtle at the bottom burps and the whole endeavor comes crashing down.
Structure and Poetic Techniques in Yertle the Turtle
‘Yertle the Turtle’ by Dr. Seuss is a fifteen-stanza short story/poem. It makes use of a consistent rhyme scheme of AABBCCDD, and so on, changing end sounds from couplet to couplet. Throughout, Seuss also uses the metrical pattern of anapaestic tetrameter.
Seuss also uses several different poetic techniques. These include but are not limited to alliteration, enjambment, and anthropomorphism. The first of these, alliteration, occurs when words are used in succession, or at least appear close together, and begin with the same sound. For example, “water” and “warm” in line four of the first stanza and “Plunk” and “pond” in stanza fourteen.
Anthropomorphism is used to make inanimate objects, forces, and animals act like real human beings, not just seem to be. This is been through the characteristically human approach to power that Yertle takes and his eventual defeat at his own hand.
Another important technique commonly used in poetry is enjambment. It occurs when a line is cut off before its natural stopping point. Enjambment forces a reader down to the next line, and the next, quickly. One must move forward to resolve a phrase or sentence comfortably. For instance, the transitions between lines one and two of stanza three and lines one and two of stanza five.
Analysis of Yertle the Turtle
Stanzas One to Five
On the far-away island of Sala-ma-Sond,
Yertle the Turtle was king of the pond.
A nice little pond. It was clean. It was neat.
The water was warm. There was plenty to eat.
The turtles had everything turtles might need.
And they were all happy. Quite happy indeed.(…)
And all through the morning, he sat up there high
Saying over and over, “A great king am I!”
Until ‘long about noon. Then he heard a faint sigh.
“What’s that?” snapped the king, and he looked down
the stack.
And he saw, at the bottom, a turtle named Mack.
Just a part of his throne. And this plain little turtle
Looked up and he said, “Beg your pardon, King
Yertle.
I’ve pains in my back and my shoulders and knees.
How long must we stand here, Your Majesty, please?”
In the first stanzas of ‘Yertle the Turtle,’ the speaker begins the poem by setting the scene in a magical, made-up location. It is “Sala-ma-sond,” a “far-away island”. It was there that an anthropomorphized turtle named Yertle was king. This is accepted as fact, allowing the reader, young or old, to suspend their disbelief throughout the pages of this book. Seuss often made use of techniques like personification and anthropomorphism in his books. The first stanza is made up of short sentences that often split the lines of verse in half, a technique known as a caesura. These provide the Reaser with specific details about the place and how everyone felt there.
Unfortunately for the kingdom, Yertle eventually decided that the kingdom was too small and that he was going to raise his throne and increase his power. He uses the backs of nine turtles to increase his throne. This is a great example of how a children’s story can be used to teach a moral lesson. An older reader will see the lesson playing out clearly while for a child it will be more obscure but eventually sink in.
In the fourth stanza, there are several examples of anaphora and repetition seen through the use of “I’m the king of” at the beginning of multiple lines and sentences. He lists the things he feels that he’s the king of now excitedly. Throughout these stanzas, the rhyme scheme remains consistent, following a pattern of AABBCC. In the fifth stanza one turtle, Mack, dares to speak out. This provides Yertle with the opportunity to show off his power and use his controlling personality, something that young reader is meant to find problematic.
Stanzas Six to Ten
“SILENCE!” the King of the Turtles barked back.
“I’m king, and you’re only a turtle named Mack.”“You stay in your place while I sit here and rule.
I’m the king of a cow! And I’m the king of a mule!
I’m the king of a house! And a bush! And a cat!
But that isn’t all. I’ll do better than that!
My throne shall be higher!” his royal voice thundered,
“So pile up more turtles! I want ’bout two hundred!”(…)
Then again, from below, in the great heavy stack,
Came a groan from that plain little turtle named
Mack.
“Your Majesty, please… I don’t like to complain,
But down here below, we are feeling great pain.
I know, up on top you are seeing great sights,
But down here at the bottom we, too, should have
rights.
We turtles can’t stand it. Our shells will all crack!
Besides, we need food. We are starving!” groaned
Mack
The sixth stanza is only two lines long, it sums up the king’s beliefs quite clearly. In the following stanza, there are more examples of repetition in the structure of lines as well as in the words that begin them. In his anger, the king declares that more turtles be brought to him and used to increase the size of his throne. As he gets higher and higher he decides that he’s king of more and more. He lists these things out just as he has in the past stanzas. This creates a feeling of continuity that unifies each section of the book/poem.
Stanzas Eleven to Fifteen
“You hush up your mouth!” howled the mighty King
Yertle.
“You’ve no right to talk to the world’s highest turtle.
I rule from the clouds! Over land! Over sea!
There’s nothing, no, NOTHING, that’s higher than
me!”But, while he was shouting, he saw with surprise
That the moon of the evening was starting to rise
Up over his head in the darkening skies.
“What’s THAT?” snorted Yertle. “Say, what IS that
thing
That dares to be higher than Yertle the King?
I shall not allow it! I’ll go higher still!
I’ll build my throne higher! I can and I will!
I’ll call some more turtles. I’ll stack ‘em to heaven!
I need ’bout five thousand, six hundred and seven!”(…)
And today the great Yertle, that Marvelous he,
Is King of the Mud. That is all he can see.
And the turtles, of course… all the turtles are free
As turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be.
In the next stanzas Mack, the rebellious outspoken turtle from before, speaks out again. He complains about his pain and that of his comrades. He knows their shells are soon to crack. But this only enrages Yertle who declares that nothing will be taller than he. Seuss uses words like “howled” to describe Yertle’s speech. These create clear and easy to imagine images, taping into multiple senses.
Things finally change for the king when he sees the sun. He doesn’t realize what it is and decides that he’ll stack the turtles until he’s in heaven. The outrageous and humorous number he asks for is “’bout five thousand, six hundred and seven!”
The poem ends in quite an amusing and Seussian way with Mack burping. This disrupts the whole tower and the king falls off and into the pond. Seuss uses the onomatopoeic word “Plunk” to describe the sound that the king turtle made as he fell into the pond. Seuss uses juxtaposition to compare the king’s position on top of the pile of turtles to that in which he exists now.
The poem concludes with a summary of what a reader should’ve learned throughout the poem, that all creatures should be free as the stacked turtles are now.
