Vikram Seth’s poem ‘The Tale of Melon City’ is full of humour and irony. The very opening of the poem is ironical. ‘There was a just and placid king’. The just king was too good to be of any use to himself or the people. His unique sense of justice brought his own death. Everything sounds ironical. Another humorous thing is that the ‘placid’ king gets agitated on a small issue. He makes an issue of a non-issue—the bumping off his crown by the arch.

It is quite humorous how easily the king lets himself befooled by others. From the chief of builders to the architect everyone escapes by shifting the blame and responsibility on others.

The most humorous and ridiculous instance comes when the arch is brought to the scaffold to be hanged. Fantastic ! Only an idiot king could have agreed to such a thing.

The tragic irony in the poem is the death of the king himself. Someone has to be hanged. It is the demand of the people. He is hanged to death by his own decree. The crowning of a melon may sound absurd and ridiculous. But it carries a message. The people are completely disillusioned. That it matters little to them if they are ruled by a human being or a melon. Only their interests should be saved and not interfered with.