For a Lamb, a poem beautifully written
by Richard Eberhart, seeks only to emphasize realism as well as purity and
innocence in the natural process. The use of symbolism in both stanzas of the
poem creates a contrast between both the role of innocence in the natural
process but also the beauty in death as an entity. Ebehart uses the lamb and
daises symbolize innocence and highlight the uncorrupted beauty in nature. In
the poem, For a Lamb, Richard
Eberhart uses symbolism to form the idea of innocence and nature as a unifying
process free of corruption.
The
symbolism of the poem allows Eberhart to highlight the innocence of the natural
process as well as a putrid, yet beautiful lamb. Eberhart’s description of the
lamb beginning in the first line starts soft, describing the hill in a subdued
tone, considering he seeks to describe a decaying lamb. The next line perhaps
shows this most prominently, Eberhart writes, “Propped with daises. The sleep
looked deep”, (Eberhart, 2). Here, the serenity of nature highlights the beauty
in the natural process of death, regardless of the nature of the lamb. The
mellow description of this rotting carcass is symbolic of the natural process
of life and death. The description of the serene environment also gives the
feel of tranquility. This is seen what Eberhart explains the face of the lamb, saying,
“The face nudged in the green pillow” (Eberhart, 6). The softness of the “green
pillow” shows how beautiful and calm nature can be even in the most destructive
stage, which in this case is death. This serenity is contrasted with the idea
of rotting and exposure to death in the next line. Eberhart states “But the
guts were out for crows to eat” (Eberhart, 7). The crow, being the symbol of
darkness and death, contrasts with the idea of the lamb. The lamb represents
purity and innocence but also has Christian undertones as its special
significance in the bible. In this instance, the contrast between the crow and
the lamb is significant because it symbolizes the natural processes of life and
death and how both are necessarily beautiful because they remain uncorrupted
through the lamb’s innocence. Another recognizable symbol that plays a role in
this contrast is the repetition of daises. Daises in general are representative
of innocence as well. This further builds the idea of innocence being pivotal
in nature. The role of innocence in death is ultimately used to maintain the
idea that even death can be beautiful because it is natural and uncorrupted.
In this
poem, Eberhart seeks to develop the idea of nature being perfect regardless of
its destructive nature. The description of the putrid lamb highlights the
grotesque tendencies of natural processes but also maintains that these
processes can be beautiful because they are simply natural. This seemingly
comments on not society’s intervention into nature but also nature being free
of humanity’s harmful stranglehold that disrupts these processes, regardless of
whether or not they are potentially harmful or have positive affects.
