The Council of Dogs

by Anonymous

Downloads: Under 100
Pages: 16

Read PDF online Download Save

About this book

A sheepdog calls a meeting on the plain because poets keep celebrating birds and insects while passing over dogs. Each speaker must explain his own worth, and the resulting contest fills this illustrated poem with boasts, disputes and comic misunderstandings. A greyhound praises his speed, hunting dogs argue over their skills, and a poodle takes a remark about a keen nose rather too literally. The chairman's demand for orderly speeches soon becomes difficult to enforce.

Published in 1808, this anonymous verse tale also gives quieter kinds of service a hearing. One dog guides a blind man through the streets; another recalls saving his master from the water. Rhyming exchanges set loyalty and usefulness beside pride in ancestry, appearance and strength. Readers interested in animal poetry for children can find both the pleasure of talking dogs and a playful picture of human vanity.