The Woodpecker

The Woodpecker - meaning Summary

Small Work, Single Purpose

The poem sketches a brief close-up of a woodpecker at work. It notes the bird’s beak, head, and repetitive labor, reducing its activity to a single practical aim: extracting a worm. The tone is observational and unsentimental, emphasizing industriousness and simple purpose. The image suggests nature’s focus on survival through persistent, precise effort rather than grandeur or romance. Read simply, it celebrates modest function over spectacle.