Letter Xii. From The Pigeon To The Partridge. (the Bird And Insects' Post-office.) Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A B C D E F G| What a long time it is since I received your kind letter about the ripening corn and the dangers you were presently to be subject to with all your children | A |
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| You will think me very idle or very unfeeling if I delay answering you any longer I will therefore tell you some of my own troubles to convince you that I have had causes of delay which you can have no notion of until I explain them You must know then that we are subject to more than the random gun shot in the field for we are sometimes taken out of our house a hundred at a time and put into a large basket to be placed in a meadow or spare plat of ground suiting the purpose there to be murdered at leisure This they call shooting from the trap and is done in this way | B |
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| We being imprisoned as I have said as thick as we can stand in the basket a man is placed by us to take us out singly and carry us to a small box at the distance of fifty or sixty yards this box has a lid to which is attached a string by means of which he the man if he is a man can draw up the lid and let us fly at a signal given Every sensible pigeon of course flies for his life for ranged on each side stand from two to four or six men with guns who fire as the bird gets upon the wing and the cleverest fellows are those who can kill most and this they call sport | C |
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| I have sad cause to know how this sport is conducted for I have been in the trap myself Only one man or perhaps a boy fired at me as I rose but I received two wounds for one shot passed through my crop but I was astonished to find how soon it got well the other broke my leg just below the feathers Oh what anguish I suffered for two months at the end of which time it withered and dropped off So now instead of running about amongst my red legged brethren as a pigeon ought I am obliged to hop like a sparrow But only consider what glory this stripling must have acquired to have actually fired a gun and broke a pigeon's leg Well we both know neighbour Partridge what the Hawk is he stands for no law nor no season but eats us when he is hungry He is a perfect gentleman compared to these Lords of the Creation as I am told they call themselves and I declare to you upon the honour of a pigeon that I had much rather be torn to pieces by the Hawk than be shut up in a box at a convenient distance to be shot at by a dastard You partridges are protected during great part of the year by severe laws but whether such laws are wise merciful or just I cannot determine but I know that they are strictly kept and enforced by those who make them Take care of yourself for the harvest is almost ripe | D |
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| I am your faithful | E |
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| ONE LEGGED FRIEND AT THE GRANGE | F |
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| I once witnessed this silly and barbarous sport and saw at least a score of maimed and wounded birds upon the barns and stables and outhouses of the village I was utterly disgusted and it required a strong effort of the mind to avoid wishing that one of the gunners at least had hobbled off the ground with a dangling leg which might for one half year have reminded him of the cowardly practice of shooting from the trap R B | G |
Robert Bloomfield
(1)
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About Letter Xii. From The Pigeon To The Partridge. (the Bird And Insects' Post-office.)
Letter Xii. From The Pigeon To The Partridge. (the Bird And Insects' Post-office.) is a poem by Robert Bloomfield. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.