Poem: Dead Roe Deer - USC US-China Institute

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November 10, 2004 at 9:58 am #5741

Rob_Hugo@PortNW
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I found this be a very sad poem, the deer,a metaphor for the girl who, I believe has been raped and left to die by the awful man who took advantage of her. It appears to me that life never changes. This poem was written so long ago and still we are faced with the same problems in society today. I would be curious to what ramifications the culprit faced in contast to today's world.

December 28, 2004 at 1:56 pm #34350

Anonymous
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"Dead Roe Dear" this is definitely a narrative poem, but I wonder why this poem was written. I wonder if this poem in some ways carries a moral tone for a community--maybe as a warning in order to help establish a communal code of conduct for both the male and female members of the ssociety--for acceptable/unacceptable behavior. Maybe a "what not to do" kind of story.[Edit by="ldriscoll on Dec 28, 9:58:45 PM"][/Edit]

January 6, 2005 at 7:56 am #34351

Anonymous
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When I first read the poem I was a bit lost and confused.
I asked myself what the 'deer' represented and reading your post, I agree with you that the deer was a metaphor for a young maiden who was possibly raped, "do not touch my apron, sir and don't set the cur to barking."
There is almost a sense of surreal beauty of this heinous crime.
A young girl frozen in time.
It also appears that she has been there for awhile in the woods, "a madien white as marble."
It is definately a sad poem of a young girl who was taken an advantage of possibly by her master.
I also agree that this possibly served as a warning to other young maidens to not be swayed by strange men to be firm and vocal.

lc
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