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.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 27, 2023
- 31 sec read
- 138 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABXB XCXC ADXD XEXE XFXF |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 507 |
Words | 103 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"Bird Or Beast?" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/5748/bird-or-beast?>.
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