How to Tell the Birds from the Flowers and Other Woodcuts · Chapter
The Clover; The Plover explained
The chapter humorously distinguishes between the plover and the clover by referencing the habits of bees and the expertise of entomologists and etymologists, playing on the presence or absence of the letter 'B'.
What happens
The chapter humorously distinguishes between the plover and the clover by referencing the habits of bees and the expertise of entomologists and etymologists, playing on the presence or absence of the letter 'B'.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book.
- 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
- Wordplay and Homophones
The chapter relies on the phonetic similarity between 'plover' and 'clover' and the pun on the letter 'B'.
- Humor and Absurdity
The absurd comparison between a bird and a plant through linguistic and scientific wordplay creates a humorous effect.
Characters to notice
- the Birds
The plover, a bird, is contrasted with the clover plant.
Key passages
“The Plover and the Clover can be told apart with ease, By paying close attention to the habits of the Bees, For En‑to‑molo‑gists aver, the Bee can be in Clover, While Ety‑molo‑gists concur, there is no B in Plover.”
You can easily distinguish a plover from a clover by observing bees: entomologists say bees can be found in clover, while etymologists note that the word 'plover' lacks the letter 'B'.
The paraphrase clarifies the wordplay and the roles of entomology and etymology.
