Myxomatosis
The story behind the poem
When I was fifteen, which was when I
wrote this poem, it was fairly common in the countryside to see
rabbits afflicted with myxomatosis.
They were just as I describe although I don't recall ever hearing one
moan. At that age I had more sympathy for the pain of an animal than I did
for that of a human being. Even so it was a cruel sight which
made a deep impression on me.
The poem engages the pathetic fallacy whereby the environs and even
the weather reflect the suffering for which they provide the backdrop.
I had not heard of this literary device at the time. by Damaris West Read the poem
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