‘They got a forked stick to bear him down’
They’ve used Farmers fork’s/rakes are put in the back of a badgers neck to hold them down, painful but it doesn’t kill them, because they are used for entertainment back in the village.
They took control of the dogs and praised them with claps, (Clapt the dogs), and then take the badger back to the village to show every one.
‘And clapt the dogs and bore him to the town’
The dogs were clapped to show that they have done well, and the badger was bore to town. (Bore; borough them back to town.).
Back at the town every one was out for the oncoming entertainment all happy and loud. They let the badger loose along the street.
‘And laugh and shout and fright the scampering hog
He runs along and bites at all he meets
They shout and hollo down the noisy street’
The badger gets frightened of the loud noises and runs and runs through the streets wanting to escape, the badger is confused not know there to go or what to do, the village people scream and shout in joy they are having fun it sets a fair ground atmosphere, the people are out to watch the fights between dogs and the badger is there way of entertainment.
The third stance is about the badger defeating the dogs but to the end of the stance the people kill the badger.
The badger runs and every on follows, and the dog’s chase him fighting until he’s caught and the dogs are once again praised.
‘He turns about to face the loud uproar
And drives the rebels to their very doors
The frequent stone is hurled where ere they go
When badger fight and every one a foe
The dogs are clapt and urged to loin the fray’
The badgers are chased and used to have fights but they are much stronger than some think. But the dogs are always praised.
The badgers are put upon several dogs and have to fight to stay alive but the badger is weaker then the dog but still succeeds.
‘The badger turns and drives them all away
Though scarcly half as big dimute and small
He fight with dogs for hours and beats them all’
Dimute; weakened, the badger is weakened and small compared to the dogs but the badger beats all the dogs, he has been put to fight with, Big large bogs give up and just turn away, and lie down
‘The heavy mastiff savage in the fray
Lies down and licks its feet and turns away’
Dogs lick there feet to clean them or to lick them better if the hurt, like in this case.
The women are more concerned then the men because they hide the boys away so they don’t do the same but it changes as the badger gets free and fries to run towards the forest but gets caught and beaten to death.
‘He tries to reach the woods a awkard race
But sticks and cudgels quickly stop the chace
He turns agen and drives the noisy crowd
And beats the many dogs in noises loud’
The badger is trying to become free by trying to reach the woods the badges is still frightened by the loud noise, people shouting, he beats the dogs but still becoming weaker and weaker.
But he does not last for long he come becomes to weak to carry on, and he falls as dead but that isn’t the end for him the men and there boys start kicking the badger, beating him to his death.
‘He falls as dead and kicked by boys and men
Then starts and grins and drives the crowd agen
Till kicked and torn and beaten out he lies
And leaves his hold and cackles groans and dies’
The entertainment from the people letting there dogs fight the badger, end up to when the badger is weak and hardly going to move the men and boys beat and kick him.
‘Cackles groans and dies’ The end of the badger, and the end of the entertainment, until the men go out the next night for another badger, this is how the population of badgers go down and it shows how mean and blood thirsty people are to see animals die for there fun.
But the last stance shows that the men realise the badgers stronger then some dogs so they have trained them like dogs, and to follow like dogs.
‘Some keep a baited badger tame as hog
And tame him till he follows like the dog’
They hunt them down tame them like dogs but then they would use them to fight the dogs to show fair play.
‘They urge him on like dogs and show fair play’
But it isn’t really fair play its still 2 animals fighting and been urged on by the people for there entertainment, its still blood thirsty people to see animals die for there fun.
This poem is definitely a protest poem against badger baiting then fighting them.
A London fete
This poem is about public executions in Britain. In this poem Patmore objects to the event and its effect on those who watch. It is against public executions, comparing this poem to ‘The Badger’ the people have been portrayed as bloodthirsty towards the killings of other people, with out even knowing what the person as done wrong and the atmosphere was like a great village/ city fete; the entertainment for the family.
Here are a few points, evidence and explanations to show my point about the people, Using quotation from the poem.
It is set in London Prison gate way
‘With echoes Newgate’s granite clanged:’
They set the scene in London and the echoes would be form all the people around
They brought out the men to be executed and the people went mad and delighted.
‘They brought the man out to be hanged.
Then came from all the people there
A single cry, that shook the air’
The crowd go wild when they see the man come out they cant wait to see him be hanged as its there entertainment.
The people wanting to get a good view they want to show there children what happens to someone how has done bad. And people shout at the top of their voices.
‘Mothers held up their babes to see
Who spread there hands, and crowed with glee;’
The mothers hold there children up high for a good view and they spread the hands in joy hand make sounds of delight.
The people have fun and try to be noticed by waving town cloth like an over excited child.
‘Here a girl from her vesture tore
A rag to wave with, and joined the roar’
The girl tars her rag to wave in excitement to see the man be hanged. But most of the people do not know what he has done.
A man shouts at the prisoner any thing he knows. But he doesn’t know what he as done wrong if he had done wrong or not; they are just using his execution for entertainment
‘There a man, with yelling tired,
Stopped, and the culprit’s crime inquired;’
The man was shouting abuse to the prisoner, but for now reason to him, he doesn’t know what the man was suppose to have done, all he knows his he's going to be hanged and it’s the entertainment for him.
A drunken man there below the man to be hanged
‘A sot, below the doomed man dumb,
Bawled his health in the world to come;’
A sot means a drunken man and, doomed, means the man to be hanged. Bawled means shouting, weep noisily.
Some people were so shallow the fought for the best view.
‘These blasphemed and fought for places;
These, half-crusted, with frantic faces,’
They fought and swear at each other for the best place/ view to see.
Families in homes near stayed and looked out of the windows for the best view over everyone.
‘To windows, where, in freedom sweet’
People in the windows of the homes free of all the fighting and uproar, and they can see over everyone.
The people start to shut up because it would start soon and their eyes get drown to the man with the rope around his neck standing on the platform waiting for it to drop so the man is left hanging.
‘But stood agape with horrid thirst
Thousands of breasts beat horrid hope;
Thousands of eyeballs, lit with hell,
Burnt one way all, to see the rope
Unslacken as the platform fell.’
All the people’s eyes were brown to the man, as it would start soon. The streets went quite you could hear the peoples breath all in hope that he would fall, excitement raised again as soon as he fell.
Excitement rose again as soon as he fell with roars, but not as loud as before.
‘The rope flew tight; and then the roar
Burst forth afresh; less loud, but more
Confused and affrighting than before.’
The people see the man fall and a sudden loud roar brakes out but there is a certain tone they won’t as loud as before and they also confused to why they were shouting to see him hang.
There was still a loud noise so that people cannot hear.
‘The common din, the chaos of noises,
But ear could not catch what was said’
All the different noises and people shouting it all get jumbled up so it’s hard to hear the accurate words being said.
The man has died its said that now his soul has joined top hell
‘As when the realm of the damned rejoices
At winning a soul to its will,’
The man's soul has been joined to hell as to what he has done wrong.
Through all this entertainment the people have been distracted away from the pockets and their belongings as a thief as been around.
A thief slunk off, with ample spoil,
To ply elsewhere his daily toil’
A thief has been pick pocketing while the people watch the hanging. Then he disappears to the next place for another easy daily work.
Children have learnt to kill things.
‘A baby strung its doll to a stick;’
The baby has stuck the babies doll on a stick to show what it has learnt.
Two children hang a cat
‘ Two children caught and hanged a cat;’
They did this because its what they have just seen so they think its good.
This poem is about a hanging being people’s entertainment, its bloodthirsty people to see other people die for there fun.
This poem is definitely a protest poem against public hangings.
Between the both poems they are mainly about the same point but one is the people going out for a badger then making it die a painful death by putting it to fight dogs, then when it dies the entertainment carries on through out the day by the people who watched still, like still kicking the badger even when its died. Then the second poem is the people shouting and swearing as they bring the man to executed out, to people watching him die by hanging, and the entertainment leads to people being/ getting drunk shouting verbal abuse, and to children repeating things they have just learnt, which they think is good they do the some to there toys or to innocent animals.
