How to Tell the Birds from the Flowers and Other Woodcuts · Chapter
A Sparrer; Asparagus explained
The chapter contrasts the fall of a sparrow with the rooted stability of asparagus, humorously noting that asparagus never falls because it spends its life in the bed.
What happens
The chapter contrasts the fall of a sparrow with the rooted stability of asparagus, humorously noting that asparagus never falls because it spends its life in the bed.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.
- Setup
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
The emotional and psychological peak occurs in the tension between the Ibis’s preserved, sacred death and the…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Humor and Absurdity
The absurd comparison between a falling sparrow and a stationary asparagus creates a playful, whimsical tone.
- Wordplay and Homophones
The title plays on 'sparrow' and 'sparrer' (a dialectal variant), and the text puns on 'asparagus' and 'sparagus bed'.
Characters to notice
- the Birds
The sparrow is mentioned as a bird that falls.
Key passages
“Of the fall of the Sparrow we often have heard, And I’ve here represented the fall of the bird: In the case of Asparagus though, I may mention, A fall such as this, is quite out of the question: For observe that Asparagus, fat and well fed, Spends all of his time in the ’sparagus bed.”
We've all heard about a sparrow falling, and I've drawn that here. But asparagus never falls—it stays put in its garden bed, well-fed and content.
The paraphrase clarifies the contrast between the sparrow's fall and the asparagus's stationary life.
