# Puffin; Nuffin explained — How to Tell the Birds from the Flowers and Other Woodcuts

> Chapter companion for How to Tell the Birds from the Flowers and Other Woodcuts by Robert Williams Wood.

## What happens

A short verse describing a puffin perched on ice and the speaker's failed search for its double, finding nothing instead.

## Themes in this chapter

### Wordplay and Homophones

The title and final word play on 'puffin' and 'nuffin' (nothing), using homophonic wordplay.

### Humor and Absurdity

The absurd search for a puffin's double ending in 'nuffin' creates a humorous, anticlimactic conclusion.

## Character check-ins

### the Birds

The puffin is a bird, representing the broader category of birds in the chapter.

## Key lines

> Upon this cake of ice is perched, The paddle-footed Puffin: To find his double I have searched, But have discovered⁠—Nuffin’.

A puffin with webbed feet stands on a block of ice; I looked for its twin but found nothing at all.

_Literal paraphrase of the verse's content._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/how_to_tell_the_birds_from_the_flowers_and_other_se/chapters/puffin-nuffin
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/how_to_tell_the_birds_from_the_flowers_and_other_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/how_to_tell_the_birds_from_the_flowers_and_other_se/chapters