Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude

The poem begins with the poet asking his audience to “bear with me” (Line 1), as he answers his call to express his experience. He recounts a “dream in which a robin” (line 3) has come to him. This has caused an “awaken[ing]” that appears to be both literal and symbolic. The bird has confronted the poet, “looking me dead in the eye” (Line 7) and sitting on a branch “coochie-cooing my chin” (Line 9), asking him to let others know what to pay attention to. This helps to express the belief that the poet has an important message to deliver both for himself and for us. The bird wants the poet to “bellow forth” (Line 22, Line 26) his “whole rusty brass band of gratitude” (Line 23). The use of the word “rusty” clearly indicates that this particular “band” (Line 23) has not played for a while and must be revived. It is, Gay reveals, “not quite dormant” (Line 24). He finds he cannot “ignore [the robin’s] odd / and precise counsel” (Line 28).

The “bellowing forth” begins with a town-crier effect: “Hear ye! hear ye!” (Line 29) the poet shouts to the reader. However, this is not a completely happy “holler” (Line 30) as the poet immediately acknowledges, although playfully, that he has “hauled tons—by which I don’t mean lots, I mean tons — of cowshit” (Line 31).