Analysis of The Magpie's Nest, Or A Lesson Of Docility
Charles Lamb 1775 (Inner Temple, London) – 1834 (Edmonton, London)
When the arts in their infancy were,
In a fable of old 'tis exprest,
A wise magpie constructed that rare
Little house for young birds, called a nest.
This was talked of the whole country round,
You might hear it on every bough sung,
'Now no longer upon the rough ground
Will fond mothers brood over their young.
'For the magpie with exquisite skill
Has invented a moss-covered cell,
Within which a whole family will
In the utmost security dwell.'
To her mate did each female bird say,
'Let us fly to the magpie, my dear;
If she will but teach us the way,
A nest we will build us up here.
'It's a thing that's close arched over head,
With a hole made to creep out and in;
We, my bird, might make just such a bed,
If we only knew how to begin.'
To the magpie soon every bird went,
And in modest terms made their request,
That she would be pleased to consent
To teach them to build up a nest.
She replied, 'I will show you the way,
So observe every thing that I do.
First two sticks cross each other I lay'-
'To be sure,' said the crow; 'why, I knew
'It must be begun with two sticks,
And I thought that they crossëd should be.'
Said the pie, 'Then some straw and moss mix,
In the way you now see done by me.'
'O yes, certainly,' said the jackdaw,
'That must follow of course, I have thought;
Though I never before building saw,
I guessed that without being taught.'
'More moss, straw, and feathers, I place,
In this manner,' continued the pie.
'Yes, no doubt, madam, that is the case;
Though no builder myself, even I,'
Said the starling, 'conjectured 'twas so;
It must of necessity follow:
For more moss, straw, and feathers, I know,
It requires, to be soft, round, and hollow.'
Whatever she taught them beside,
In his turn every bird of them said,
Though the nest-making art he ne'er tried,
He had just such a thought in his head.
Still the pie went on showing her art,
Till a nest she had built up half way;
She no more of her skill would impart,
But in anger went fluttering away.
And this speech in their hearing she made,
As she perched o'er their heads on a tree,
'If ye all were well skilled in my trade,
Pray, why came ye to learn it of me?'-
When a scholar is willing to learn,
He with silent submission should hear.
Too late they their folly discern;
The effect to this day does appear:
For whenever a pie's nest you see,
Her charming warm canopy view,
All birds' nests but hers seem to be
A magpie's nest just cut in two.
Scheme | XAXA ABAB CDCD EFEG AHAH AAAA EAEI JKJK AAXA LMLM NNNN AAAA AEAE AKAK OGOF KIKI |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (81%) |
Metre | 101011000 00101111 01101011 101111101 111101101 1111110011 111001011 111011011 10111001 101001101 011011001 00101001 10111111 11110111 11111101 01111111 101111101 101111100 111111101 111011101 101110011 001011101 11111101 11111101 101111101 1011001111 111111011 111101111 11101111 011111111 101111011 001111111 11100101 111011111 111001101 11101101 11101011 011001001 111101101 11101101 1010111 111010010 111101011 10101111010 1011101 0111001111 101101111 111101011 101111001 101111111 111101101 1010110001 011011011 1111011101 111011011 111111111 101011011 111001011 11111001 001111101 101001111 01011001 11110111 0111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,384 |
Words | 482 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 16 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 64 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 115 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 29 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 24, 2023
- 2:23 min read
- 107 Views
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"The Magpie's Nest, Or A Lesson Of Docility" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/5400/the-magpie%27s-nest%2C-or-a-lesson-of-docility>.
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