Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, DON'T YOU SEE?, by KATHARINE LEE BATES


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

DON'T YOU SEE?, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: The day was hotter than words can tell
Last Line: Till the whale was obliged to whale them all.
Subject(s): Crabs; Fish & Fishing; Jellyfish; Marine Animals; Sea; Anglers; Ocean


THE day was hotter than words can tell,
So hot the jelly-fish wouldn't jell.
The halibut went all to butter,
And the catfish had only force to utter
A faint sea-mew — aye, though some have doubted,
The carp he carped and the horn-pout pouted.

The sardonic sardine had his sly heart's wish
When the angel fish fought with the paradise-fish.
'T was a sight gave the bluefish the blues to see,
But the seal concealed a wicked glee —

The day it went from bad to worse,
Till the pickerel picked the purse-crab's purse.

And that crab felt crabbeder yet, no doubt,
Because the oyster wouldn't shell out.
The sculpin would sculp, but hadn't a model,
And the codfish begged for something to coddle.

But to both the dolphin refused its doll,
Till the whale was obliged to whale them all.





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