How to Tell the Birds from the Flowers and Other Woodcuts · Chapter
The Ant; The Pheas‑ant explained
A brief verse distinguishing the ant from the pheasant by noting the ant's antennae and the pheasant's lack thereof, compensated by a small red cap (a fez) to avoid baldness.
What happens
A brief verse distinguishing the ant from the pheasant by noting the ant's antennae and the pheasant's lack thereof, compensated by a small red cap (a fez) to avoid baldness.
Themes in this chapter
Wordplay and Homophones
The poem plays on the similarity between 'ant' and 'pheasant' through their names and physical traits (antennae vs. fez).
Nature and Classification
Compares two species (ant and pheasant) based on observable features, highlighting a humorous misclassification.
Characters to notice
- the Birds
The pheasant is a bird, implicitly grouped with other birds in the book's context.
Key passages
“The ant is known by his ant‑ennae, Where‑as the pheas‑ant hasn’t any, And that is why he wears instead, A small red cap upon his head”
The ant is identified by its antennae, but the pheasant lacks them, so it wears a small red cap to cover its bald head.
Simplifies the whimsical comparison between the ant's antennae and the pheasant's fez.