I found it interesting that the bat poet was unable to come up with a poem about the cardinal he came up with poems about the owl and the mockingbird. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t write about it. The bat poet obviously has an appreciation for nature. I like his poetry because it is about nature. He uses rhyming, repetition, and alliteration in his poetry. The bat poet, although he is new at coming up with poetry, makes good poetry. There is also alliteration in the last stanza: “he” and “his” (line 1). This stanza also uses repetition: “his” (lines 1 & 4). This stanza also uses alliteration because there are multiple words that begin with “s”: “stuffed,” “sweet,” “slight,” and “shining.” The last stanza has rhymes in it “breast” (line 1) rhymes with “west” (line 2) and “rest” (line 4). “Sweet” (line 2) rhymes with “eat” (line 3) and “feet” (line 4). In the third stanza, the bat uses repetition he repeats the words “red” and “past.” The fourth stanza has rhymes in it too. For example, the first stanza has a lot of words that begin with “I”: “in,” “ ivy,” and “into.” “Cheeks” (second stanza, line 2) rhymes with “streaks” (second stanza, line 4). When reading this poem, readers notice that it has a large amount of alliteration. The bat’s second poem is about the chipmunk, who later becomes his friend and biggest fan. Only later in the poem, do we find out that he is referring to the owl. He says, “A shadow is floating through the moonlight” (12). Shouldn’t are be is, because the bat is talking about a mouse, not mice? This poem is a little mysterious because the reader is not aware of who the bat poet is referring to. To me, the first line of the third stanza doesn’t seem like it’s written grammatically correct. In this stanza, there is also repetition of the word “the.” In the third stanza, “death” (line 1) rhymes with “breath” (line 4). In addition, “believes” (second stanza, line 3) is a near rhyme to “heaves” and “eaves.” There is also some alliteration in the second stanza: “washes” and “water” (line 2), “ all” and “air” (line 1), and “it” (line 1) and “in” (line 4). The last three lines in the first stanza all begin with “Its.” “Heaves” (second stanza, line 1) rhymes with “ eaves” (second stanza, line 4). In the bat’s first poem (which is about the owl), the reader notices a lot of repetition.

The bat’s poetry is extremely accomplished, even though he is a newcomer to poetry.

In other words, he stays up during the daytime, which the other bats don’t want to do. The other bats do not appreciate him because he is different he goes against nature in order to make up his poetry. The bat memorizes his poetry and recites it to other animals. He does not write down his poetry because he is a bat, and bats don’t know how to write. The Bat-Poet by Randall Jarrell is about a bat who makes poetry. The Bat-Poet by Randall Jarrell, Pictures by Maurice Sendak