Appreciation of the Poem "The Snare"

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Appreciation of the Poem “The Snare” The subject-matter of the poem is the sorrowful fate of a rabbit caught up in a snare and its wailing as if it is calling for someone to help it to regain its freedom. “The Snare”, written by the Irish poet James Stephens, describes in a highly emotional tone the painful lamentation of the unlucky animal in the trap. He feels that this call is especially for him and is determined to do whatever possible to save it from the jaws of death. Though he endeavours again and again to find out the whereabouts of the weeping animal, his attempt does not succeed. His inability to help the innocent animal creates in him a serious frustration. In a certain sense he too was as helpless as the trapped rabbit. This fact increases his frustration still more. The poem consists of four stanzas; each has four lines. The language used is very simple but capable of evoking a deep feeling of sympathy in the mind of the reader towards the animal’s bitter suffering. At the same time, the poem arouses in any kind individual an intense feeling of anger against the person who set up the trap. The way the incident is described by the poet has not failed to inflict on the reader the same physical pain experienced by the rabbit in the snare. The theme of the poem is love, kindness and sympathy towards voiceless animals. The poet has equated man’s cruelty to animals to the snare in the poem. And the cry of the rabbit is its humble appeal to men to allow them to live without being harassed. The poet’s fruitless but untiring effort to save the animal signifies that humans are duty-bound to help the dumb animal species to live in freedom and peace. The poet has propounded this theme in his lucid descriptive style through the means of “The Snare”. As was stated earlier, the poem has four stanzas each having four lines. The adopted rhyme scheme is abab. The
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