The Wounded Hare by Robert Burns
The speaker condemns the cruel hunter who has wounded a hare, wishing that pity and pleasure may never reach his heart. The hare, once at home among woods, brakes, and green plains, is left mangled and near death, unable to find comfort even in its familiar resting place. As it lies bleeding beneath the rushes, the speaker imagines that its suffering may be shared by a grieving mother and helpless young who depended on her care. Walking beside winding Nith at evening or dawn, the speaker expects to miss the hare playing on the dew-covered grass and will continue to curse the shooter and mourn its fate.
By Robert Burns · First published 1787 · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Pastoral Poetry, Nature Poetry · 234 words
First lines
Inhuman man! curse on thy barb'rous 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 wand'rer of the wood and field! / The bitter little that of life remains: / No more the thickening brakes and verdant plains / To thee a home, or food, or pastime yield.
Seek, mangled wretch, some place 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.
What this Textopian page supports
The Wounded Hare is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Burns, dated 1787 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Robert Burns
- Date: 1787 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Pastoral Poetry, Nature Poetry, Animal Poetry, Elegy
- Length: 234 words
- Structure: 1 section, 5 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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Genres
- Lyric Poetry — A concise, highly emotional poem expressing the speaker's personal grief, indignation, and compassion in response to a wounded hare.
- Pastoral Poetry — The work is set amid woods, fields, verdant plains, rushes, dew-covered lawns, and the River Nith, using rural natural scenery as its essential setting.
- Nature Poetry — The hare and its habitat are central subjects, and the poem treats animal suffering and the natural world with close feeling and observation.
- Animal Poetry — Its plot concerns a hare wounded by a hunter, while the speaker imaginatively considers the animal's pain, death, offspring, and domestic bonds.
Tags
animal suffering · hare · hunting cruelty · condemnation of violence · compassion · grief · nature · rural Scotland · River Nith · woodland · green fields · rushes