LIst of content: The Snare by James Stephens
Poem – The Snare
I hear a sudden cry of pain!
There is a rabbit in a snare:
Now I hear the cry again.
But I cannot tell from where.
But I cannot tell from where
He is calling out for aid!
Crying on the frightened air,
Making everything afraid!
Making everything afraid!
Wrinkling up his little face!
And he cries again for aid;
And I cannot find the place!
And I cannot find the place
Where his paw is in the snare!
Little One! Oh, Little One!
I am searching everywhere
Summary and Analysis – The Snare by James Stephens
This four-stanza beautiful lyrical poem by Irish poet James Stephens explores the theme of entrapment and the desperate search for freedom. It studies the innocent rabbit against the cruelty of the snare and our incapability to help the powerless and set it free.
The poet hears the painful cry of an animal and imagines it to be the cry of a rabbit ensnared in a hunter’s trap. He frantically tries searching for the little rabbit but fails to find it. The haunting cries of the animal torment the poet, intensifying his sense of helplessness. Stephens puts emphasis on the far-reaching impact of the helpless squeal by repeating “making everything afraid” twice in the poetry. He wanted to evoke a sense of shared dread.
He vividly imagines the rabbit’s pitiful face scrunched in pain and its little paw caught in the snare and moans at his incompetence to help those in need. The poem ends with the poet’s desperate search for the animal. Interestingly enough, the snare and the animal are both imaginary; we don’t know for certain which animal is entrapped and whether it is trapped or not. The cry for help could be the trap itself, leaving it for open interpretation.
Rhyme Scheme
The snare is a free verse with occasional internal and irregular rhymes. The repeating lines intensify the desperation and anguish of the poet in his incompetence to help the innocent creature.
Comprehension
1. Explain “crying on the frightened air“ in the poem The Snare by James Stephens
The pain-stricken, helpless cries of the rabbit create a sense of intense panic in the atmosphere, and the anguished poet, who is unable to find the rabbit, senses the urgency of the situation more desperately.
2. What effect does the repetition of the last line of each stanza have on readers?
The repetition of the last line of each stanza creates a sense of urgency among the readers to look for the rabbit along with the poet and to set the poor creature free from that cruel snare and ease its suffering.
3. Who is making “everything” afraid?
The pain-stricken cries of the rabbit caught in a snare are making everything afraid. Its cries fill the air with fear, making other animals in the surroundings afraid along with it.
4. What is the overall effect of the poem?
The Snare, a lyrical poem by James Stephens, is a poignant narration of the poet’s ideology regarding innocence and cruelty. He incorporates an animal to evoke the sense of innocence. An ensnared rabbit caught in a hunter’s trap cries for help. Its haunting cries reverberating in the surrounding environment, creating an atmosphere of fear and dread.
The poet struggles to locate its source even though he continues to hear its call for aid. The poem ends with the poet’s desperate search for the animal. What’s interesting is that the snare and the animal are both imaginary; we don’t know for certain which animal is entrapped and whether it is trapped or not. The cry for help could be the trap itself, leaving it for open interpretation.
