One flew east, one flew west, one flew over the cuckoo’s nest

One flew east, one flew west, one flew over the cuckoo’s nest is a children’s folk rhyme placed at the threshold of the novel. Its brief sequence of opposing directions followed by a flight over the cuckoo’s nest gives the opening a compact, memorable verbal frame before the main narrative begins.

Identity and Form

The text presents the lines “one flew east, one flew west,One flew over the cuckoo's nest.” The rhyme moves from two contrasting directions to a final image of flight over the nest. Its parallel phrasing and abrupt turn give the short verse a distinctly patterned shape; the excerpt does not identify the birds or explain the nest beyond naming it.

Placement and Function

The rhyme is labeled “Children's folk rhyme” and appears before the heading for Part 1 and its first chapter. This placement marks it as a framing fragment rather than part of the chapter’s narrated action. The supplied passage establishes its folk-rhyme identity and opening position but does not specify a further interpretation.