The Field Mouse

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Gillian Clarke
The Field Mouse
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Before we begin examining this poem, what do you
think it is going to be about?
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The Field-Mouse Summer, and the long grass is a sn
are drum.The air hums with jets.Down at the end 
of the meadow,far from the radios terrible news,
we cut the hay. All afternoonits wave breaks bef
ore the tractor blade.Over the hedge our neighbou
r travels his fieldin a cloud of lime, drifting o
ur landwith a chance gift of sweetness.
The child comes running through the killed
flowers, his hands a nest of quivering mouse, its
black eyes two sparks burning. We know it will
die and ought to finish it off. It curls in agony
big as itself and the star goes out in its
eye. Summer in Europe, the fields hurt, and the
children kneel in long grass, staring at
what we have crushed.
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Before days done the field lies bleeding,the dus
k garden inhabited by the saved, voles,frogs, a n
est of mice. The wrong that wokefrom a rumour of 
pain wont heal,and we cant face the newspapers.
All night I dream the children dance in grassthe
ir bones brittle as mouse ribs, the airstammering
 with gunfire, my neighbour turnedstranger, wound
ing my land with stones. 
from Five Fields (Carcanet, 1998)
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If you consider that this poem was published in
1998 what mid to late 1990s conflict brought
about this work?
This poem is inspired by the late 1990s Bosnian
crisis (and is equally relevant to all human
conflicts), it emphasises the fragility of all
life and man's destructive nature. The title of
the poem refers to a mouse which receives a fatal
injury during the hay-cutting.
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Underline any words/phrases that echo conflict,
pain and death
Summer, and the long grass is a snare drum.The ai
r hums with jets.Down at the end of the meadow,f
ar from the radios terrible news,we cut the hay.
 All afternoonits wave breaks before the tractor 
blade.Over the hedge our neighbour travels his fi
eldin a cloud of lime, drifting our landwith a c
hance gift of sweetness.
Do you notice anything in particular about the
words used in stanza 1? Think poetic technique
The child comes running through the killed
flowers, his hands a nest of quivering
mouse, its black eyes two sparks burning. We
know it will die and ought to finish it off. It
curls in agony big as itself and the star
goes out in its eye. Summer in Europe, the
fields hurt, and the children kneel in long
grass, staring at what we have crushed.
Clarke uses a lot of assonance (repeated soft
vowel sounds) and internally rhyming words in
this verse to create a traditional scene of a
British harvest.
Before days done the field lies bleeding,the dus
k garden inhabited by the saved, voles,frogs, a n
est of mice. The wrong that wokefrom a rumour of 
pain wont heal,and we cant face the newspapers.
All night I dream the children dance in grassthe
ir bones brittle as mouse ribs, the airstammering
 with gunfire, my neighbour turnedstranger, wound
ing my land with stones. 
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Summer, and the long grass is a snare drum.The ai
r hums with jets.Down at the end of the meadow,f
ar from the radios terrible news,we cut the hay.
 All afternoonits wave breaks before the tractor 
blade.Over the hedge our neighbour travels his fi
eldin a cloud of lime, drifting our landwith a c
hance gift of sweetness.
Why is the long grass a snare drum?
What does the air hums with jets mean?
What is the terrible news on the radio?
Any idea what farmers use lime for?
The insects in the grass make the field sound
like a snare drum
The jets are military aircraft, practising low
flying over hill country. When war threatens
somewhere in the world, and Britain is involved,
the activity increases. The noise is sometimes a
terrifyingly sudden scream, and sometimes a
continuous roar, like deep humming.
It was the war in Bosnia, in the former
Yugoslavia.
In acidic soil lime is deficient, farmers add it
to help the crops to grow. It sweetens the soil,
hence the cloud drifting onto the land as a
chance gift of sweetness.
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The child comes running through the killed
flowers, his hands a nest of quivering mouse, its
black eyes two sparks burning. We know it will
die and ought to finish it off. It curls in agony
big as itself and the star goes out in its
eye. Summer in Europe, the fields hurt, and the
children kneel in long grass, staring at
what we have crushed.
There is something shared about the line Summer
in Europe what do you think?
British people and Bosnian people are both
Europeans. We are alike. Summer, whether in the
countryside in Britain or in Bosnia, is hay
making time. They wait for a good weather
forecast before cutting the hay, as it needs to
dry in the sun for a few days before it is baled
and stored. All children love playing in the hay.
It is a sunny, happy, busy time.
Why do the fields hurt?
Small animals get killed in the long grass during
hay making. Think also of the word battlefield.
Here, little creatures were killed. In Bosnia
men, women and children were killed.
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children kneel in long grass, staring at
what we have crushed
Who are the children and what are they staring
at?
There are two countries, Britain and Bosnia, and
two groups of children, here, and there. The
children here are sad to see small animals
injured. In Bosnia the children see people die.
Clarke is also thinking of the children of the
world watching adults wreck our planet. They
stare at what the adults have crushed.
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Before days done the field lies bleeding,the dus
k garden inhabited by the saved, voles,frogs, a n
est of mice. The wrong that wokefrom a rumour of 
pain wont heal,and we cant face the newspapers.
All night I dream the children dance in grassthe
ir bones brittle as mouse ribs, the airstammering
 with gunfire, my neighbour turnedstranger, wound
ing my land with stones. 
What does Clarke imply by the lines "The wrong
that woke/from a rumour of pain won't heal,/and
we can't face the newspapers.?
What does this final stanza mean?
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This is a direct reference to the recent
situation in Eastern Europe. If we stay away from
the radio and don't pick up the newspapers we can
remain ignorant of what is going on almost on our
doorstep. We can pretend civil war is something
only heard about in history lessons. But we can't
shake off feelings of guilt and the poem ends
with the fearful thought of our own neighbours
turning against us as happened in Bosnia.
The final stanza is a nightmare, a bad dream
about the children being as frail and vulnerable
as field mice, and theres gunfire in the air.
The poem asks what if this were Bosnia, and your
neighbour hated you just because you had
different religions and different ethnic
backgrounds? What if instead of a cloud of lime
he threw stones?
This is a long and quite sophisticated poem. The
title of the work is unlikely for a poem about
war. The mouse is a symbol of weak or vulnerable
people, threatened by forces beyond their control.
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The End