problem with a poem...

[zahari]

hello everybody!!!

I hope you had a nice summer!!

I wonder if you could help me with a line from a poem about the circus.
Here is the whole stanza:

The ringmaster stutters. The comedian mutters.
And the strong-man splutters in despair.
The midget's five foot five; I'm surprised he's still alive
Because the knife-thrower's knives go everywhere!

1. Who is the "strong-man"? and
2. "The midget's five foot five." I can't get the meaning or even the syntax of this line!!!


Thank u in advance!!!

[mykwyner]

The strong man was a side-show attraction who performed feats of great strength. The side shows typically featured human oddities such as the bearded lady or the dog-faced boy. An extremely short person ( a midget) would usually be part of the show. 5 feet 5 inches (about 165cm) is the height of a somewhat shorter than average person. Much too tall to be considered a midget.

The sentence is:

The midget is five feet five inches tall.

This poem is about what a poor-quality circus this is.

[zahari]

Thank you very much Mykwyner.

You are right about the content of the poem! I didn't mention it before because I thought it was quite obvious. I imagined that the midget is rather tall from the context but the structure was difficult to understand...

Thanks a lot!!!