Analysis of The Sparrow And The Hen
Charles Lamb 1775 (Inner Temple, London) – 1834 (Edmonton, London)
A sparrow, when sparrows like parrots could speak,
Addressed an old hen who could talk like a jay:
Said he, 'It's unjust that we sparrows must seek
Our food, when your family's fed every day.
'Were you like the peacock, that elegant bird,
The sight of whose plumage her master may please,
I then should not wonder that you are preferred
To the yard, where in affluence you live at your ease.
'I affect no great style, am not costly in feathers,
A good honest brown I find most to my liking,
It always looks neat, and is fit for all weathers,
But I think your grey mixture is not very striking.
'We know that the bird from the isles of Canary
Is fed, foreign airs to sing in a fine cage;
But your note from a cackle so seldom does vary,
The fancy of man it cannot much engage.
'My chirp to a song sure approaches much nearer,
Nay the nightingale tells me I sing not amiss;
If voice were in question I ought to be dearer;
But the owl he assures me there's nothing in this.
'Nor is it your proneness to domestication,
For he dwells in man's barn, and I build in man's thatch,
As we say to each other-but, to our vexation,
O'er your safety alone man keeps diligent watch.'
'Have you e'er learned to read?' said the hen to the sparrow,
'No, madam,' he answered, 'I can't say I have.'
'Then that is the reason your sight is so narrow,'
The old hen replied, with a look very grave.
'Mrs. Glasse in a Treatise-I wish you could read-
Our importance has shown, and has proved to us why
Man shields us and feeds us: of us he has need
Even before we are born, even after we die.'
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IJIJ KXKX LXLX XMXM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (75%) |
Metre | 01011011011 01111111101 11101111011 1011110011001 0110111001 01111001011 11111011101 1011010011111 1011111110010 011011111110 11110111110 1111110111010 111011011010 11101110011 1111010110110 01011110101 111011010110 101001111101 110010111110 101101111001 1111110010 111011011011 111111011101 1011001111001 11101111011010 11011011111 111010111110 01101101101 101001011111 1001011011111 11101111111 1001111101011 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,544 |
Words | 311 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 37 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 149 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 38 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:33 min read
- 76 Views
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