The Baby
The Baby - meaning Summary
Innocence Questions Social Ranking
The poem contrasts a newborn's simple, unexamined action with adult attempts to rank beings morally or intellectually. Pound points out that the baby never asks whether a cow is higher on a "mental scale"; it simply feeds. The closing reference to Tennyson and the image of the baby sucking a teat satirically equates natural bodily need with the lofty concerns of great men, undermining pretension.
Read Complete AnalysesThe baby new to earth and sky Has never until now Unto himself the question put Or asked us if the cow Is higher in the mental scale Than men like me and you, Or if the cow refrains from food Till she finds work to do. 'The baby new to earth and sky,' As Tennyson has written, Just goes ahead and sucks a teat Like to-day's great men in Britain.
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