Clippety Clop! by Hugh Lofting
Clippety Clop!, by Hugh Lofting, presents a barber's shop run by chimpanzees. A rhyming call-and-response invites passersby to walk up and walk in for a shave, a dry shampoo, or a marcel wave, with whiskers trimmed in any style requested. The barber chimpanzees greet each arrival with a bow and a smile, announcing "Next please!" as they keep the shop perpetually busy, never stopping their work, punctuated throughout by the refrain "Clippety, snippety, clippety, clop!"
By Hugh Lofting · First published 1994 · Genre: Children's Literature, Nonsense/Absurdist, Poetry/Verse · 111 words
First lines
Clippety, snippety, clippety, clop! / A pretty pernickety barber's shop! / Walk up! Walk in and have a shave, / A dry shampoo -- a marcel wave, / Your whiskers trimmed in any style. / Come in, sit down and stay a while. / Soon the barber chimpanzees / Will bow and smile and say, "Next please! / "We're always busy -- never stop. / "Clippety, snippety, clippety, clop! "
Genres
- Children's Literature — Written in simple, playful rhyming verse with whimsical imagery and light-hearted tone characteristic of children's poetry; features engaging rhythmic patterns designed to entertain young readers.
- Nonsense/Absurdist — Depicts an illogical premise of chimpanzees operating a barber shop with human-like service, embracing the absurd and fantastical as primary appeal.
- Poetry/Verse — Structured as rhyming verse with consistent AABB and CCDD rhyme schemes, strong meter, and repetitive refrain ('Clippety, snippety, clippety, clop') typical of formal poetry.
- Humorous Fiction — Employs comedic incongruity through anthropomorphized animals mimicking professional human behavior, maintaining a playful and amusing tone throughout.
Tags
chimpanzees · animals · barber shop · grooming · haircuts · onomatopoeia · repetition · rhyming · rhythm · verse · anthropomorphic · work
What this Textopian page supports
Clippety Clop! is listed on Textopian as a poem by Hugh Lofting, dated 1994 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Hugh Lofting
- Date: 1994 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Children's Literature, Nonsense/Absurdist, Poetry/Verse, Humorous Fiction, Fantasy
- Length: 111 words
- Structure: 1 section, 1 paragraphs
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- Work identity for Clippety Clop! by Hugh Lofting
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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