What a Bird Thought

Summary

This poem is about how a bird sees the world, how the bird has to face various situations of life and how the bird works around them and finds a way out 

Stanza-by-stanza explanation

I lived first in a little house,
And lived there very well;
The world to me was small and round
And made of pale-blue shell.

In the first stanza, the bird talks about his first house and how he was very comfortable there, how he lived well with no worries, and how for him, the world was small and round, and only made of a pale blue shell.

I lived next in a little nest,
Nor needed any other;
I thought the world was made of straw,
And covered by my mother.

In the second stanza, the bird talks about his second home, which was a little nest. Life over there was quite comfortable, and the bird thought that the entire world was made of straws and was covered by his mother. 

One day I fluttered from the nest,
To see what I could find.
I said, “The world is made of leaves;
I have been very blind.” 

In the third stanza, the bird talks about how one day he tried to fly from his nest and see what he could find, and he came to realize that the world is not only made of his nest but is made of leaves as well.

At last, I flew beyond the tree,
And saw the sky so blue ;
Now, how the world is really made
I cannot tell - can you?

In the fourth stanza, the bird says he finally flew past the tree he was staying in, and he got to see the blue sky, and he saw the world, but he can't tell you how it is made.