The poem is written in first person and the narrator appears to take the form of a young child up until the final stanza, where the reader questions whether or not the narrator is an adult looking back …show more content…
This causes the reader to dwell on this word, thus the love of the hare in the eyes of the woman is emphasised. This word is juxtaposed with the short and hard ‘t’ sound in ‘gutting.’ This juxtaposition conveys a sense of dismay that the woman has in letting herself gut the hare. There could perhaps also be a juxtaposition between what she feels is right and what the woman’s duty is. The sensual imagery seen in the word ‘smoothed’ has connotations of lust and love. In television dramas, after a murder, the murderer often is seen to lie by the body for a while after the death and touch the body as a sign of regret and to show that they know that murdering that person was not the right thing to do. This could resemble this act. The effect that this has on the reader is that there is a possibly juxtaposition between the woman’s feelings and her role in society. Also, the reader could get the impression that her husband may be forcing her to do something against her will. Alternatively, she may be doing it just to please him, thus the reader feels that there could be love coming from the woman to her husband; this is the first time that the reader sees evidence of this. The theme of loss is seen here as the woman is seen to take time out of her day to sit with and comfort a dead animal. Therefore, a loss of dignity may be conveyed. The theme of love is conveyed towards the hare due to the lustuous sense created during the sensuous