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A Blue Ribbon At Amesbury
Such a fine pullet ought to go
All coiffured to a Winter show,
And be exhibited and win.
The answer is this one has been
And come with all her han is home
Her golden leg, her coral coinb,
Her Huff of plumage, white as chalk,
Her style, were all the fancy’s talk.
It seems as if you must have heard.
She scored an almost perfect bird.
In her we make ourselves acquainted
With one a Sewell might have painted
Here common with the Hock again,
At home in her abiding pen,
She hangers feeding at the trough,
The last to let night drive her off.
The one who gave her ankle-band,
Her keeper, empty pail in hand,
He hangers too, averse to slight
His chores for all the wintry night.
He leans against the dusty wall,
Immured almost beyond recall,
A depth past many swinging doors
And many litter-mumed Hoors.
He meditates the breeder’s art.
He has a half a mind to start,
With her for Mother Eve, a race
That shall all living things displace.
This ritual with her to lay
The full six days, then rest a day;
At which rate baning broodiness
She well may score an egg-success.
The gatherer can always tell
Her well-turned egg’s brown sturdy shell,
As safe a vehicle of seed
As is vouchsafed to feathered breed.
No human spectre at the feast
Can scant or hurry her the least.
She takes her time to take her fill.
She whets a sleepy sated bill.
She gropes across the pen alone
To peck herself a precious stone.
She waters at the patent fount.
And so to roost, the last to mount.
The roost is her extent of Hight.
Yet once she rises to the height,
She shoulders wIth a wing so strong
She makes the whole flock move along.
The night is setting in to blow.
It scours the \\” windowpane with snow,
But barely gets from them or her,
For comment a complacent chirr.
The lowly pen is yet a hold
Against the dark and wind and cold
To give a prospect to a plan
And warrant prudence in a man.
Summary and Analysis
Introduction:
A Blue Ribbon At Amesbury by Robert Frost is a simple poem from A Further Range. It is in praise of a pullet (hen) which was exhibited at a show.
Summary:
The hen could have been painted by a Sewell. Its golden leg, coral comb, plumage, etc. were famous. Its keeper felt that this hen could be a sort of Mother Eve and breed a new race of fowls. It lays eggs for six days and rests on the seventh. Its egg has a special shape and size. The hen is never afraid of human beings. It is always the last to rise to her roost, and by the strength of her shoulder, makes the whole flock move along.
Critical Analysis:
The poem shows Frost's interest in animals and birds and his observation of their ways. The blue ribbon' implies great honour, while Amesbury is the market town where the hen wins the honour. The poem is simple. However, even here there is a didactic twist at the end-the lowly pen' for the hen conveying the necessity of prudence in a man.