Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TIT FOR TAT, by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE



Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TIT FOR TAT, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Have you been catching of fish, tom noddy?
Last Line: Till you are cooked yourself!
Alternate Author Name(s): Ramal, Walter; De La Mare, Walter
Subject(s): Animals


Have you been catching of fish, Tom Noddy?
Have you snared a weeping hare?
Have you whistled, 'No Nunny,' and gunned a poor bunny,
Or a blinded bird of the air?

Have you trod like a murderer through the green woods,
Through the dewy deep dingles and glooms,
While every small creature screamed shrill to Dame Nature,
'He comes -- and he comes!'?

Wonder I very much do, Tom Noddy,
If ever, when off you roam,
An Ogre from space will stoop a lean face
And lug you home:

Lug you home over his fence, Tom Noddy,
Of thorn-sticks nine yards high,
With your bent knees strung round his old iron gun
And your head dan-dangling by:

And hang you up stiff on a hook, Tom Noddy,
From a stone-cold pantry shelf,
Whence your eyes will glare in an empty stare,
Till you are cooked yourself!





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...



Home: PoetryExplorer.net