# The Pipe‑fish; The Sea‑gar 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 brief cautionary verse warning against the mistake of smoking a herring, and advising the reader to instead consider the pipe-fish and the long sea-gar when smoking after-dinner fish.

## Themes in this chapter

### Wordplay and Homophones

The chapter plays on the homophonic similarity between 'pipe-fish' and 'pipe' (for smoking), and 'sea-gar' and 'cigar', creating a humorous confusion between fish names and smoking implements.

### Humor and Absurdity

The absurd premise of smoking a herring as a 'lam-en-table mistake' and the playful substitution of pipe-fish and sea-gar for typical smoking items exemplifies the chapter's whimsical humor.

## Key lines

> To smoke a herring is to make A most lam‑ en ‑table mistake

Smoking a herring is a very regrettable error.

_The line uses a pun on 'lamentable' split across syllables to emphasize the foolishness of the action._

> Bear this in mind when next you wish To smoke your after‑dinner fish.

Remember this advice the next time you want to smoke fish after your meal.

_The couplet delivers the chapter's moral in a direct, memorable way._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/how_to_tell_the_birds_from_the_flowers_and_other_se/chapters/the-pipe-fish-the-sea-gar
- 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