2.4 How doth the little busy bee
Complete textbook exercise solutions — Maharashtra State Board (Balbharati), Grade Seven English.
ShareReference: The solutions below are based on the poems "How doth the little busy bee" by Isaac Watts and its parody "How doth the little crocodile" by Lewis Carroll[cite: 10].
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- doth: does (an old English word)[cite: 10].
- opening: blooming or unfolding (referring to a flower opening its petals)[cite: 10].
- cell: a small compartment in a honeycomb where bees store honey[cite: 10].
| Points | How doth the little busy bee (Original)[cite: 10] | How doth the little crocodile (Parody)[cite: 10] |
|---|---|---|
| Choice of subject | A busy and hardworking bee[cite: 10]. | A lazy, cunning crocodile[cite: 10]. |
| Number of lines and stanzas | Two stanzas, 8 lines in total (4 lines per stanza)[cite: 10]. | Two stanzas, 8 lines in total (4 lines per stanza)[cite: 10]. |
| Same or similar constructions | "How doth the little busy bee" "Improve each shining hour" "How skilfully she..."[cite: 10] |
"How doth the little crocodile" "Improve his shining tail" "How cheerfully he..."[cite: 10] |
| Tone of the poem | Serious, moral, instructive, praising hard work and skill[cite: 10]. | Humorous, playful, comic, and sarcastic[cite: 10]. |
(a) What does the bee stand for?[cite: 10]
The bee stands for hard work, dedication, usefulness, and harmlessness[cite: 10].
(b) What does the crocodile stand for?[cite: 10]
The crocodile stands for laziness, deception, and danger[cite: 10].
(c) Why does the bee work hour after hour?[cite: 10]
The bee works hour after hour to gather honey and store it as sweet food for the future[cite: 10].
(d) Why does the crocodile work?[cite: 10]
The crocodile does not do any real work; it only pretends to be cheerful and welcoming to trick little fishes into swimming right into its jaws so it can eat them[cite: 10].
(e) Is the bee a gentle creature? Is the crocodile gentle?[cite: 10]
Yes, the bee is a gentle and productive creature. No, the crocodile is not gentle at all; it is a dangerous predator that only puts on a "gently smiling" face to trap its prey[cite: 10].
Why the parody sounds funny:
The parody sounds funny because it takes a serious, moral poem about a hardworking, innocent bee and copies its exact style to describe a lazy, cunning crocodile. Instead of gathering honey, the crocodile is gathering little fishes to eat them, but the poem describes this cruel act using sweet and polite words like "welcomes", "cheerfully", and "gently smiling jaws"[cite: 10].
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Realistic Description:
A crocodile is a large, dangerous reptile that lives in rivers and lakes. It has a long, powerful tail, thick scaly skin, sharp claws, and very strong jaws filled with deadly teeth. It waits quietly in the water to catch its prey.
Tick mark against the words you will use:
- [ ] • little
- [ ] • shining tail
- [ ] • golden scale
- [ ] • cheerful
- [ ] • grin
- [✓] • claws
- [ ] • gently smiling
- [✓] • jaws
In reality, crocodiles are not "little", "cheerful", or "gently smiling", nor do they have "golden scales". However, they definitely have sharp "claws" and powerful "jaws".
Another famous parody written by Lewis Carroll in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat!", which is a parody of the classic nursery rhyme "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star".
Original: Twinkle, twinkle, little star, / How I wonder what you are!
Parody: Twinkle, twinkle, little bat! / How I wonder what you're at!
I like the parody better because it is very funny and imaginative. While the original poem is good and teaches us a nice lesson about hard work, the parody makes me laugh by completely changing the mood. It uses sweet and gentle words to describe a dangerous crocodile eating fishes, which makes it very interesting to read.