Admonition
Admonition - meaning Summary
Destructive Analysis Kills Vitality
The poem warns against dissecting living things—literally and metaphorically—arguing that breaking something down to study its parts destroys the qualities you hoped to understand. Through three progressive images (bird, beast, heart), the speaker shows that analysis severs function, ruins context, and can stop the motion that creates meaning and affection. The tone is cautionary, emphasizing the integrity of whole forms and the ethical cost of invasive inquiry.
Read Complete AnalysesIf you dissect a bird To diagram the tongue You'll cut the chord Articulating song. If you flay a beast To marvel at the mane You'll wreck the rest From which the fur began. If you pluck out the heart To find what makes it move, You'll halt the clock That syncopates our love.
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