On Seeing a Wounded Hare limp by me, which a Fellow had just shot at
51
On seeing a wounded hear limp by me
which a fellow had just shot at. --------
Inhuman man! curse on thy savage art,
And blasted be thy murder-aiming eye!
May never Pity soothe thee with a sigh,
Nor ever Pleasure glad thy cruel heart!
Go live, poor wanderer of the wood & field,
The bitter little that of life remains:
No more the thickening brakes, or verdant plains,
To thee shall food, or home, or pastime yield. ----
Seek, mangled wretch, some haunt of wonted rest,
No more of rest, but now thy dying bed;
The sheltering rushes whistling o'er thy head,
The cold earth with thy bloody bosom prest. ----
Oft as by winding Nith I, musing, wait
The sober eve, or hail the cheerful dawn,
I'll miss thee sporting o'er the dewy lawn,
And curse the ruffian aim, & mourn thy hapless fate --
______________________________
On seeing a wounded hear limp by me
which a fellow had just shot at. --------
Inhuman man! curse on thy savage art,
And blasted be thy murder-aiming eye!
May never Pity soothe thee with a sigh,
Nor ever Pleasure glad thy cruel heart!
Go live, poor wanderer of the wood & field,
The bitter little that of life remains:
No more the thickening brakes, or verdant plains,
To thee shall food, or home, or pastime yield. ----
Seek, mangled wretch, some haunt of wonted rest,
No more of rest, but now thy dying bed;
The sheltering rushes whistling o'er thy head,
The cold earth with thy bloody bosom prest. ----
Oft as by winding Nith I, musing, wait
The sober eve, or hail the cheerful dawn,
I'll miss thee sporting o'er the dewy lawn,
And curse the ruffian aim, & mourn thy hapless fate --
______________________________
Key details
- Archive number
- NTS/02/25/BRN/02/172
- Alt. number
- 3.6215.m
- Date
- April 1789
- On display
- Yes
- Creator
- Burns, Robert (Author)
- Archive number
- NTS/02/25/BRN/02/172
- Alt. number
- 3.6215.m
- Date
- April 1789
- On display
- Yes
- Creator
- Burns, Robert (Author)
Description
On Seeing a Wounded Hare limp by me, which a Fellow had just shot at, part of the Afton manuscript collection.
Written in April 1789, the theme of this poem is the hare, Burns's 'poor wanderer of the wood and field', which has been shot.
In the opening quatrain, the poet furnishes the perpetrator of this heinous act with the epithet 'inhuman man!' The Poet goes on to wish numerous misfortunes to the fellow. Then there is a turn - Burns's sensibilities now switch to the hare, the little 'mangled wretch' who seeks his 'dying bed', all the while pressing 'The cold earth with thy bloody bosom'.
Burns wrote to Mrs Dunlop on 21 April 1789: '[while] sowing in the fields, I heard a shot, and presently a poor little hare limped by me, apparently very much hurt. ... this set my humanity in tears...'.
This particular manuscript is part of the Afton Manuscript collection. This collection of thirteen poems was presented by Robert to Mrs Alexander Stewart of Stair in 1791.
Burns wrote to Mrs Dunlop on 21 April 1789: '[while] sowing in the fields, I heard a shot, and presently a poor little hare limped by me, apparently very much hurt. ... this set my humanity in tears...'.
This particular manuscript is part of the Afton Manuscript collection. This collection of thirteen poems was presented by Robert to Mrs Alexander Stewart of Stair in 1791.
Archive information
Themes
Hierarchy
-
Robert Burns, collection of poems and songs
(
a sub-fonds is a subdivision in the archival material)
- On Seeing a Wounded Hare limp by me, which a Fellow had just shot at