Bob Southey! You're a poet—Poet-laureate,   And representative of all the race; Although 'tis true that you turn'd out a Tory at   Last—yours has lately been a common case; And now, my Epic Renegade! what are ye at?   With all the Lakers, in and out of place? A nest of tuneful persons, to my eye Like "four and twenty Blackbirds in a pye;"Which pye being open'd they began to sing"   (This old song and new simile holds good), "A dainty dish to set before the king,"   Or Regent, who admires such kind of food; And Coleridge, too, has lately taken wing,   But like a hawk encumber'd with his hood, Explaining Metaphysics to the nation— I wish he would explain his Explanation.*You, Bob! are rather insolent, you know,   At being disappointed in your wish To supersede all warblers here below,   And be the only Blackbird in the dish; And then you overstrain yourself, or so,   And tumble downward like the flying fish Gasping on deck, because you soar too high, Bob, And fall, for lack of moisture quite a-dry, Bob!

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Bob Southey! You're a poet—Poet-laureate,   And representative of all the race; Although 'tis true that you turn'd out a Tory at   Last—yours has lately been a common case; And now, my Epic Renegade! what are ye at?   With all the Lakers, in and out of place? A nest of tuneful persons, to my eye Like "four and twenty Blackbirds in a pye;"Which pye being open'd they began to sing"   (This old song and new simile holds good), "A dainty dish to set before the king,"   Or Regent, who admires such kind of food; And Coleridge, too, has lately taken wing,   But like a hawk encumber'd with his hood, Explaining Metaphysics to the nation— I wish he would explain his Explanation.*You, Bob! are rather insolent, you know,   At being disappointed in your wish To supersede all warblers here below,   And be the only Blackbird in the dish; And then you overstrain yourself, or so,   And tumble downward like the flying fish Gasping on deck, because you soar too high, Bob, And fall, for lack of moisture quite a-dry, Bob!" in the context of "Lord Byron, Don Juan, Dedication" to mean that wisdom is timeless.