The Raven Chides Its Own Blackness
A satiric tale.
Is this tale of parable.
Warped in irony.
Oh, the cruelty.
Weapons of mass destruction.
Oh, what disaster!
Oh, what a glory.
Weapons for our protection.
What satisfaction!
A voice of reason.
When will we cease from warfare?
A voice soon hushed up.
A voice that questions.
When will we stop bickering?
A voice of treason.
Oh, the irony!
Logistics of cold warfare.
Pot calls kettle black.
Your own projection.
All this calls for reflection.
What you choose to see.
While our pot is black.
Their kettle may be polished.
Both yet filled with soot.
Beware of splinters.
Our living in glass houses.
We mustn’t throw stones.
What hypocrisy!
The raven chides its blackness.
Ask William Shakespeare.
A satiric tale.
Is this tale of parables.
Warped in irony.
About this poem
Warped in irony: Though not expressively verbatim, the phrase “the raven chides its own blackness” was employed by William Shakespeare, the bard of Avon, in an offhand indirect manner, in the play of “Troilus and Cressida,” as a signal of hypocrisy of the highest form. This poem invites us, as a human race of Homo sapiens, to examine critically the public persona we carry, and along with it the projections we often cast on others and on other societies when we chide their own personas, public or private. To intensify self-examination and reflection, this poem is written in the form of an inclusio, with the first and last stanzas of the poem echoing the core message of hypocrisy that the poem conveys satirically, with the proverbial raven chiding its own blackness that it projects on others. more »
Written on February 03, 2022
Submitted by karlcfolkes on February 03, 2022
Modified on April 21, 2023
- 51 sec read
- 475 Views
Quick analysis:
| Scheme | AxB bcx bcc cdx exc bdf ccb fxx exx bxx AxB |
|---|---|
| Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
| Characters | 777 |
| Words | 173 |
| Stanzas | 11 |
| Stanza Lengths | 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 |
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"The Raven Chides Its Own Blackness" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 17 Mar. 2025. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/119079/the-raven-chides-its-own-blackness>.
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