FOUR LITTLE FOXES Poem

 

FOUR LITTLE FOXES  Poem

Summary

This poem describes a very sad scene in the woods, when on a cold March morning, the speaker finds a dead vixen in a fox trap, with four cubs lying helpless beside her. The cubs are so small that they have not even opened their eyes. When the speaker tries to shelter them using boughs of a tree, the foxes try and suckle his arm, thinking that the warmth is from their mother. As the speaker leaves with a very heavy heart, the cubs huddle together in the freezing wind and rain. Through this entire narrative, the speaker pleads with different elements of nature to be kind to the poor, helpless foxes.

The poet wants to shed light on how the thoughtless actions of man can have disastrous consequences for other creatures. He personifies different aspects of nature asking to show mercy on the cubs. In doing so, he makes us that he is looking for qualities of kindness and mercy in inanimate things because these qualities are absent in human beings. He repeats his request to the different elements in different tones. This repetition makes us understand the extent of the cruelty that the cubs have borne and the importance of ensuring that we are mindful of the way we interact with nature.



Understanding the Poem

1. The speaker has found four new-born fox cubs in a valley.


2. The little foxes have seen their mother get caught in a trap. In saying that the cubs 'watched their mother go' the speaker means that the cubs watched their mother die a slow and painful death.


3. b


4. In asking March to 'walk softly and 'step softly, the speaker is appealing to March to be gentle and show mercy on the fox cubs by holding back its cold, frosty winds and dangerous hurricanes.

The speaker asks March to do these things because the fox cubs are lying alone in the freezing cold without any food or shelter. If the weather continues to be stormy and frosty, the cubs will possibly die.


5. The speaker describes how weak and vulnerable the fox cubs are by using these words and phrases-'new-born, thin, blue foxes', 'whimpering with pain' and 'shivering in the rain'.


6. The line, "the thin blue foxes suckled at my arm" tells us that the foxes mistook the speaker for their mother. They do so because previously, their mother was their one source of warmth and comfort and so when the speaker tried to shelter them and keep them warm, they mistook him for their mother.


7. The cruel killing of their mother has left the cubs in such a sorry, weakened state that even something as gentle and pleasant as Spring can be too hard for them to take. The poor little things cannot do anything for themselves because they are so small and thus have to depend on the mercy of others to survive. Therefore, the speaker feels that he must appeal even to Spring to be gentler than it already is to the cubs.


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