Stanza 18 Summary

Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.

Lines 329-334

Laugh'd every goblin
When they spied her peeping:
Came towards her hobbling,
Flying, running, leaping,
Puffing and blowing,
Chuckling, clapping, crowing,

  • The goblins are delighted to see a new customer. They see Lizzie looking at them near the brook, and come running over.
  • Lines 331-334 are a list of "–ing" words describing all the various ways the goblins have of moving and making noise.
  • Like the list of goblin fruits, and descriptions of individual goblins, the level of detail presented in list form is almost overwhelming.