The Ambitious Chicken - Poem by Laura E. Richards

It was an Easter chicken
So blithesome and so gay;
He peeped from out his plaster shell
All on an Easter Day.

His wings were made of yellow down,
His eyes were made of beads;
He seemed, in very sooth, to have
All that a chicken needs.

He winked and blinked and peeped about,
And to himself he said,
"When first a chicken leaves the shell,
Of course he must be fed.

"And though I may be young in years,
And this my natal morn,
I'm quite, _quite_ old enough to know
Where people keep the corn."

He winked and blinked and peeped about,
Till in a corner sly
He saw a heap of golden corn
Piled on a platter high.

"Now, this is well!" the chicken cried;
"Now, this is well, in sooth.
This corn shall nourish and sustain
My faint and tender youth.

"And I shall grow and grow apace,
And come to high estate,
With mighty feathers in my tail,
And combs upon my pate.

"To see my beauty and my grace
The feathered race will flock,
And all will bow them low before
The mighty Easter Cock."

As thus the chicken proudly spake,
And stooped to snatch the prize,
His head fell off, and rolled away
Before his very eyes!!!!

It rolled into the dish of corn,
A sad and sombre sight,
While still upon its plaster legs,
His body stood upright.

And little Mary, when she came
With shining "popper" bright,
To pop the corn, and make the balls
Which were her heart's delight,

Gazed at the dish with wide blue eyes,
And "Oh! Mamma!" she said:
"One piece has gone and _popped itself_
Into a chicken's head!"