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Tell me thou proud jigger, Having stolen your way in Need you beat your chest In premature celebration? Your flying brother Sang a song of victory...

Tell me thou proud jigger,
Having stolen your way in
Need you beat your chest
In premature celebration?

Your flying brother
Sang a song of victory
Before he tasted the toast
And met his singing end.

We thought you had learned
To taste and not devour
Unmindful of other mouths
In the neighborhood of time

Come thou proud jigger
Follow the prick in my hand
And celebrate your death
Beside thy favourite toe

Explanation
Jigger is another word for chigoe, a tropical flea which burrows
into the skin of its host. A toast in British custom is drink to wish someone good health
or success. For example, at a wedding, someone proposes a toast to the bride and
groom whereon all present wills and, raise their glasses, repeat “to the bride and
groom”, and drink.
Toast in another sense is a slice of bread browned on both sides by radiant heat.

Questions
1. Who/What is the second stanza referring to?
2. Who does the „you‟ in the third stanza refer to?
3. What does the persona achieve by talking to the jigger as if it understands him?
4. What is the moral teaching of this story?
5. Give the meaning of the following lines as they have been used in the poem
(a) “In premature celebration?” (line4)
(b) “Before he tasted the toast” (line7)

Answers

Faith
1. The second stanza refers to a flying insect which bites – probably a mosquito.
Song of victory suggests the buzzing of the mosquito as it flies. It could also refer
to a fly, which buzzes around a toast(bread).

2. The 'you' in stanza three refers to the jigger of stanza one.

3. This creates a sort of bond between the persona and the insect. He is perhaps
trying to understand why the jigger has to burrow into his skin and feed on his
blood. The poet's use of this style helps to arouse the reader's curiosity.
4. The poem is a warning against avarice (or greed). The poet tells the jigger to
leave some for 'others mouths'.
5. (a) It is a “premature celebration” because the jigger has not yet won. He might
have burrowed his way under the skin, but the persona is waiting with his pin to
dig him out and finish him off.
(c)A toast, in English custom, is drank to a proposal of success or health when
those present raise their glasses and take a sip
to register their agreement. The mosquito started celebrating at the prospect of
drinking the toast (by buzzing) and was killed before it tasted the drink. In the
case of the fly, it started buzzing around the bread and met its death before it
could even taste it.
Titany answered the question on November 11, 2021 at 08:12

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