William Cowper

The Cricket

Summary


In The Cricket, a short poem by William Cowper, a speaker greets a small chirping visitor on the kitchen hearth. The mood is warm and playful, almost like a quiet bargain between neighbours. The cricket is called a harbinger of good, and in return for its cozy shelter, the speaker asks for a softer, sweeter song. The speaker promises to offer whatever music they can give back.

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Little cricket, full of mirth,
Chirping on my kitchen hearth;
Wheresoever be thine abode,
Always harbinger of good.
Pay me for thy warm retreat
With a song more soft and sweet;
In return thou shalt receive
Such a strain as I can give.

Illustration for The Cricket: a man smiles at a chirping cricket on a warm kitchen hearth in a cozy cottage.
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Credits

William Cowper was an eighteenth-century English poet, celebrated for his gentle verse about domestic life, nature and small creatures. Here he turns the humble hearth cricket, a traditional symbol of good luck in English households, into a welcome companion.