Christmas Sparrow Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCD AEFG HIJGKL CKMN OPQCC RISTUCVW GEXI| The first thing I heard this morning | A |
| was a soft insistent rustle | B |
| the rapid flapping of wings | C |
| against glass as it turned out | D |
| - | |
| a small bird rioting | A |
| in the frame of a high window | E |
| trying to hurl itself through | F |
| the enigma of transparency into the spacious light | G |
| - | |
| A noise in the throat of the cat | H |
| hunkered on the rug | I |
| told me how the bird had gotten inside | J |
| carried in the cold night | G |
| through the flap in a basement door | K |
| and later released from the soft clench of teeth | L |
| - | |
| Up on a chair I trapped its pulsations | C |
| in a small towel and carried it to the door | K |
| so weightless it seemed | M |
| to have vanished into the nest of cloth | N |
| - | |
| But outside it burst | O |
| from my uncupped hands into its element | P |
| dipping over the dormant garden | Q |
| in a spasm of wingbeats | C |
| and disappearing over a tall row of hemlocks | C |
| - | |
| Still for the rest of the day | R |
| I could feel its wild thrumming | I |
| against my palms whenever I thought | S |
| about the hours the bird must have spent | T |
| pent in the shadows of that room | U |
| hidden in the spiky branches | C |
| of our decorated tree breathing there | V |
| among metallic angels ceramic apples stars of yarn | W |
| - | |
| its eyes open like mine as I lie here tonight | G |
| picturing this rare lucky sparrow | E |
| tucked into a holly bush now | X |
| a light snow tumbling through the windless dark | I |
Billy Collins
(1)
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