Analysis of Bird Or Beast?

Christina Georgina Rossetti 1830 (London) – 1894 (London)



Did any bird come flying
After Adam and Eve,
When the door was shut against them
And they sat down to grieve?

I think not Eve's peacock
Splendid to see,
And I think not Adam's eagle;
But a dove may be.

Did any beast come pushing
Through the thorny hedge
Into the thorny thistly world,
Out from Eden's edge?

I think not a lion,
Though his strength is such;
But an innocent loving lamb
May have done as much.

If the dove preached from her bough
and the lamb from his sod,
The lamb and dove
Were preachers sent from God.


Scheme ABXB XCXC ADXD XEXE XFXF
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 1101110 101001 10111011 011111 11111 1011 01111010 10111 1101110 10101 0101011 1111 111010 11111 11100101 11111 1011101 001111 0101 010111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 507
Words 103
Sentences 6
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 20
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 80
Words per stanza (avg) 20
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 27, 2023

31 sec read
138

Christina Georgina Rossetti

Christina Georgina Rossetti was an English poet who wrote various romantic, devotional, and children's poems. "Goblin Market" and "Remember" remain famous. She wrote the words of two Christmas carols well known in the UK: "In the Bleak Midwinter", later set by Gustav Holst and by Harold Darke, and "Love Came Down at Christmas", set by Harold Darke and by other composers. more…

All Christina Georgina Rossetti poems | Christina Georgina Rossetti Books

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