To a Waterfowl (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: William Cullen Bryant
- First Published: 1818
- Type of Work: Lyric
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry
- Subjects: Nature, New England, Birds, Romanticism, Animals, Puritans or Puritanism
The Poem
Both lyric and didactic, “To a Waterfowl” creates a natural scene in order to derive a moral lesson from it. The poem consists of eight quatrains, or four-line stanzas. Each stanza is written in pentameter and trimeter verse with an alternating rhyme scheme. The poem subtly blends descriptive scenes with inward reflections on them. The poem’s title indicates an unspecified waterfowl, which some critics have suggested must be a goose. By not specifying the waterfowl’s species, the poet suggests a more universal image that will help in conveying his theme. The...
[The entire page is 1535 words long]
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