The Badger

With the majority of Clare's bird poems depicting animals as fearful and constantly monitoring their surroundings for danger, the switch to humans expressing fear of animals was glaring in his poem "The Badger." In many of his other poems humans are either simply curious or hunting when they pursue animals but here they are baiting the badger for their own amusement and to feel the thrill of fear. This poem portrays an odd sort of connection between humans and animals as as Clare depicts the Badger as if he was aware of the game, describing his "grin" and how he "laughs and hurrys on the fray." Yet it the final line after he cackles he "groans and dies." Clare reminds us that it may be a fun game for us to try and reach a birds nest or root out bird's nests but these actions can have dire consequences for the animals.