Analysis of The Rook And The Sparrows
Charles Lamb 1775 (Inner Temple, London) – 1834 (Edmonton, London)
A little boy with crumbs of bread
Many a hungry sparrow fed.
It was a child of little sense,
Who this kind bounty did dispense;
For suddenly it was withdrawn,
And all the birds were left forlorn,
In a hard time of frost and snow,
Not knowing where for food to go.
He would no longer give them bread,
Because he had observed (he said)
That sometimes to the window came
A great black bird, a rook by name,
And took away a small bird's share.
So foolish Henry did not care
What became of the great rook,
That from the little sparrows took,
Now and then, as 'twere by stealth,
A part of their abundant wealth;
Nor ever more would feed his sparrows.
Thus ignorance a kind heart narrows.
I wish I had been there, I would
Have told the child, rooks live by food
In the same way that sparrows do.
I also would have told him too,
Birds act by instinct, and ne'er can
Attain the rectitude of man.
Nay that even, when distress
Does on poor human nature press,
We need not be too strict in seeing
The failings of a fellow being.
Scheme | AABBCDEEAAFFGGHHIIJJKLMMNNOOPP |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (33%) |
Metre | 01011111 10010101 11011101 11110101 11001101 01010101 00111101 11011111 11110111 01110111 10110101 01110111 01010111 11010111 1011011 11010101 1011111 01110101 110111110 110001110 11111111 11011111 00111101 11011111 11110011 0101011 1110101 11110101 111111010 010101010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 996 |
Words | 199 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 30 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 788 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 197 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:00 min read
- 123 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Rook And The Sparrows" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 17 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/5412/the-rook-and-the-sparrows>.
Discuss this Charles Lamb poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In