Inside the Egg

Inside the Eggis a poem by Carol Ann Duffy. It is one of those poems like a Russian doll, one thing is inside another and inside that another and another. It can go on for ever if you are not careful – or just of you enjoy it. Ted Hughes’ poem Amuletworks in a similar way and comes back to its beginning, like an amulet, within thirteen lines. 

Inside the Egg

Inside the egg, unheard,
Was a bird.

Inside the bird, unsung
Was a song.

Inside the song, mute,
Was a flute.

Inside the flute, wound,
Was the wind….

from  New & Collected Poems for Children Carol Ann Duffy

…and so on. You could carry on from here or begin with a different object. You may or may not wish to rhyme.  The pattern Carol Ann Duffy has created, often using half rhymes [ unsung/ song; wound/ wind], is a satisfying one and easier not to get wrong than in some cases.

This doesn’t have to be a poem.  Just play a little with the idea of an infinity of things, one inside another.