In the poem “The Ant and the Cricket”, the ant after listening to the cricket says that he (cricket) did not do any work when it was the appropriate. He could have made the best use of the spring and summer. However instead of caring about future, he simply kept singing and enjoying the spring season.

Now that the time is gone, he is repenting. However there is no use of doing that because it (the ant) will not lend him any food or shelter. He should now bear the suffering now.

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The ant and the cricket are totally different from each other. The ant is wise. He works hard during the summer season. He collects food and makes shelter for himself so that he may be able to bear the harshness and famine of the winter.

On the other hand, the cricket is a fool. He does not care about gathering food for himself not for shelter. Instead, he keeps singing and enjoying during the summer season. When the winters appear he has neither anything to eat not shelter to save himself from chilling cold.

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Following are the figures of speech used in the poem The Ant and the Cricket:

1. Personification: When humans characteristics are given to animals or non-living things, it is called personification. The ant and the cricket are personified as humans as they are talking and thinking like humans.
2. Metaphor: It is the comparison of two things. In the last line “Some crickets have four legs, and some have two“, the poet compares lazy and careless people with the cricket.

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The cricket kept singing and enjoying during the summer season. He did this because it was greenery and warm everywhere. There was plenty of food. He thought that this will remain forever. He did not care about winters and its harshness. He did not know that there will be chilling cold and shortage of food.

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The poet calls the cricket silly i.e. a fool because he did not made appropriate use of his time. During the summer season there was plenty of food as well as material available for making shelter. However he did not care about the future.

He thought that the joy of summer and spring will remain forever. Hence he kept singing. When the winters appeared, he had nothing to eat nor shelter to save himself from chilling cold.

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