The Peacock Has a Score of Eyes Lyrics
A poem of things that do not do what their names say. A peacock has twenty eyes and cannot see with them, a codfish has a silent sound, dandelion clocks cannot tell the time, and a cat's cradle does not hold the cat. Eight lines of name jokes.
The Peacock Has a Score of Eyes
The peacock has a score of eyes,
With which he cannot see;
The cod-fish has a silent sound,
However that may be;
No dandelions tell the time,
Although they turn to clocks;
Cat's-cradle does not hold the cat.
Nor foxglove fit the fox.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/the-peacock-has-a-score-of-eyes/
- Type
- Poems for Children, Animal Rhymes
- Written by
- Christina Rossetti
- Tune
- Dry and deadpan, one plain statement after another, with a grin on the last line
- Best for ages
- 5 to 10 years
What Does The Peacock Has a Score of Eyes Mean?
Each line takes a name and shows that the name does not match the thing. A score is twenty, so the peacock has "a score of eyes", but they are the round spots on its tail feathers, and "he cannot see" with them. The cod-fish has "a silent sound", which cannot be, but "however that may be" is the poet shrugging and moving on. The poem is built on contradictions that are plainly true.
The second verse works the same way with things children know. Dandelion clocks are the round seed heads that children blow to "tell the time", and the poem says no dandelion tells the time, though it turns to clocks. Cat's-cradle is the string game played with loops on the fingers, and it does "not hold the cat". A foxglove is a tall flower with tube-shaped bells that look like glove fingers, and it does not fit the fox.
Each pair plays with a word that sounds like it should be literal. It is the same kind of fun as asking whether a butterfly is made of butter. Children over five usually get the game quickly and start finding their own name jokes.
History and Origin
The verse comes from Rossetti's Sing-Song, and it shows that the book is not all gentle nature. Nonsense of this sort, where words are taken too literally, was a favourite with Victorian writers for children.
Taking a name literally, as this verse does, is a joke that works best read aloud with a straight face.
Learning Activities
- Name jokes: think of more things whose names do not match, such as a butterfly, a hot dog or a pineapple, and make a line for each.
- Dandelion clocks: blow a dandelion seed head and count the puffs, then say 'no dandelions tell the time'.
- String game: make a cat's cradle with a loop of string and ask where the cat is.
- Draw it wrong: draw a peacock with eyes on its feet and ask what it sees.