From the tone of the first two lines it is obvious that the boy is upset about the kittens, and the author tries to make the reader feel his emotions, primarily by word choice in these lines. “Pitched them” creates an air of carelessness. The kittens were not gently placed, or comfortably arranged for their last moments, just ‘pitched’. The direct speech also maintains the feel of a memory. The opening two lines provide the basis for the rest of the poem, which goes on to describe the event and the boy’s feelings in more detail.
The other memory the author has in the first stanza is the weakness of the kittens. ‘A frail metal sound,’ makes it clear that the kittens have no strength and are very frail. An oxymoron is used to describe clearly the contrast between the hard metal and the soft kittens. Metal is normally a very hard, tough sound but the kittens can only manage a frail noise.
The idea is continued in the next stanza. The author makes use of onomatopoeia through the word ‘scraping’. This makes the reader think of scraping noises we have heard before, which help create a stronger mental image in the mind.
Another oxymoron is used soon afterwards, to further strengthen the image; ‘Their tiny din’. Once again, the kittens are trying to make a din, which is normally considered a very big noise. But the weak, frail kittens can only manage a tiny noise.
Further evidence of Dan Taggart’s lack of care is revealed when the kittens are ‘slung on the snout’. Once again the kittens were not delicately balanced but ‘slung’. Alliteration is also used to create a harsh sounding phrase;
‘Was soon soused… slung on the snout’
The ‘s’ letter is repeatedly used, this creates a coarse atmosphere and also a fast paced scene; the author apparently doesn’t have time to carefully think about word choice, he just has to describe what he sees quickly, as it happens.
The idea of events unfolding as the author speaks is continued in the next line;
‘Of the pump and the water pumped in.’
The repeated use of the word ‘pump’ suggests the author already knew what was going to happen. He saw and dreaded what was going to happen, and this is symbolized through the repeated use of the word ‘pump’.
“ ‘Sure isn’t it better for them now?’ Dan said.
Like wet gloves they bobbed and shone till he sluiced
Them out on the dunghill, glossy and dead.”
The whole verse is quoted together, as it is important to note that the author sees the exact opposite of what Dan is saying. Dan suggests that the kittens have been put out of their misery, but the author sees them as miserable now, comparing them to wet gloves.
The idea that the kittens are drowned, and are therefore wet, shows throughout the verse. A simile is used comparing them to wet gloves, and the words ‘glossy’ and ‘bobbed’ create a watery, wet effect.
The next stanza carries on from where the last one left, and is largely about death and the child’s reaction to it;
“Suddenly frightened, for days I sadly hung,
Round the yard, watching the three sogged remains
Turn mealy and crisp as old summer dung”
The wet effect again comes into play, with the word ‘sogged’ being used. More imagery is used in the form of a simile;
‘Turn mealy and crisp as old summer dung’
The simile helps the reader think of other mealy and crisp items, most of them won’t be very pleasant. Once again, Seamus Heaney relies on the idea that we ourselves will have images of things, and that we will use them and relate them to the poem. This method is very effective as it allows us to get the exact same feelings as the author had when he saw the remains of the kittens.
The author finally forgets his fears but they come back again whenever he sees other animals being killed around the farm.
“When Dan trapped big rats, snared rabbits, shot crows
Or, with a sickening tug, pulled old hens’ necks.”
However, the difference here is that Dan had good reasons for killing these animals; rats eat grain stores, rabbits chew crops, old hens are useless, and crows attack lambs. Also these animals (with the exception of the hens) are also free, they are not in any way helpless, they are free to escape to the best of their ability, the idea of hunting and being hunted is as old as nature itself. The boy is young though, and he may not understand this theory.
The next stanza comes back to the present time, with the author reflecting on his childhood feelings;
“Still, living displaces false sentiments”
The first line is very important, it introduces the moral of the poem – that people grow used to things in time, and that as we are older we get rid of the allegedly false (or untrue) thoughts and feelings we had.
The next lines are extremely important and show just how impressionable people are when they are young;
“And now, when shrill pups are prodded to drown
I just shrug, ‘Bloody pups’. It makes sense;”
The author is so shocked at the kittens killings that he is in fear for days, but now, when he is older, he is saying exactly the exact same as he was so shocked to hear when he was younger. The fact that Dan Taggart was actually the boy’s idol emerges, and although it surprises us at first in fact it is not uncommon for young boys to ‘worship’ older men among them, even if they do hate the older men. This is one of the main themes of the poem, and it is made even more effective by the way that it is left until nearly the conclusion of the poem.
At the start of the poem the author can’t abide killing, by the end he is indifferent to it, but all of these feelings are shelved aside when confronted by the ‘common enemy’ – the ‘towns folk’.
“ ‘Prevention of cruelty’ talk cuts ice in town”
A metaphor is used; ‘cuts ice’. This suggests that this is the hot talk of the moment, or that it is the subject of heated discussions. It could even be argued that the metaphor is meant to show the topic is new. Perhaps it is meant to symbolize that the topic is ‘hot of the press’.
The common enemy idea is continued with this phrase:
“Where they consider death unnatural”
Even though the ‘towns people’ are almost agreeing with the author, such is his hate of them he knocks them down for it. He suggests that the ‘towns people’ are unrealistic in their views, and that they can’t bear to face death at all. However the next line suggests that his stance on animal rights isn’t entirely honest:
“But on well run-farms pests have to be kept down”
The line certainly seems well rehearsed, and is almost a cliché. This suggests that the author does not at all believe this, but because he comes from the country he has to accept the beliefs of the ‘country people’.
