What the Imps Did (1869)

AUTHOR: Alcott, Louisa May

PUBLICATION:  “What the Imps Did.” Hearth and Home  Vol. I no. 23 (29 May 1869): 365 (col. 3-4).
American Historical Periodicals  from the American Antiquarian Society.

KEYWORDS: animals, birds, hunting, morality

SUMMARY (Ridvan Askin, edited Deborah Madsen):

The poem promotes charity, kindness, and tenderness towards fellow beings such as non-human animals. Composed in ballad form, “What the Imps Did” opens with “four little birds, / Sitting alone in the nest,” complaining that they have not been fed and that they miss their parents. Some “droll little imps” playing nearby immediately understand why this is the case, exclaiming: “'The boy who did this sinful thing / Better not come in our way'.” The imps imply that the birds' parents have been killed by a boy, bird shooting being a common pastime for boys as described and denounced, for example, in William Alcott's short essay on “Shooting Birds.”

After expressing their anger about such a boy, the imps decide to “adopt” the birds, thus counteracting the boy's cruelty and displaying (with the poem thus promoting) the caring attitude that he lacks. They make good on their promise, feeding the birds and keeping them warm until they are strong enough to leave the nest. The birds declare their loyalty and friendship and promise to spread the word about the imps' “charity.” The imps rejoice in their good deed, as does the human narrator, who praises their “tender hearts.” The  little imps are modelled as stalwarts of Christian morality, inviting readers (particularly the “sinful” boys among them) to emulate their values and conduct.