12. Stanzas 15 and 16

Explanation:

 

When the woman came out through the chimney as a bird, she became completely transformed and unrecognisable. Everything was changed, except for the scarlet cap she had on her head. Her clothes were burned as she came through the burning chimney. They had turned as black as coal because of the soot from the chimney.

It is interesting to note how the speaker has associated the appearance of a woodpecker with the attire of the woman. It is natural for a woodpecker to have a scarlet head and black body. However, the speaker claims that the bird was turned black because of the flame and soot, and the scarlet head represents the colour of the cap the woman was wearing.

As we come to the final stanza of the poem, the speaker prepares to conclude the ballad. She says that the woman still lives in the form of a bird. Moreover, every schoolboy has seen her in the trees as they crossed the forest. And, as Saint Peter had cursed, she keeps "boring and boring for food".

 

In the end, the woman who couldn't understand or empathise with another person's hunger and misfortune had ended up learning it through a hard lesson.