The Last of the Flock

In the poem The Last of the Flock, there is a distinct relationship behind man and animal, which is seen through the dialog between the man and the weeping Sheppard walking along the roads. The flock of sheep was of great importance to the Sheppard. They brought him life, money, as well as stability for his family. However, ironically the relationship with animal was greater than that of human kind. Through deep observance of reading between the lines of the excerpt, time is passing before his eyes and the sense of time is not apparent. He goes from being single to married to ending up with ten children. Yet the reader does not see where this is all happening. The man does not seem to mention his family as much as one would assume. There is a greater love for what is not there in regards to the sheep.

This poem is similar to that of We Are Seven. Here, there was a dialog between a little girl and a man. The little girl insists that there are still seven in her family when in reality there less because some have passed. Yet, the lives of her siblings remain with her. She does not let go. Her attitude towards their death is quite ironic. She is not mourning their loss, rather she still acts as if her brother and sister are always around her, playing and conversing. This sort of intimacy is different from that of the Sheppard.

The concept of intimacy with nature plays an exceptional role in both poems. In The Last of the Flock, intimacy is clearly shown. Mourning here occurs with the sheep. He fails to see that there is more in life left to live for. The Sheppard had it all; he had a family and wealth. Nonetheless, he failed to see the other half. We can compare this analogy to that of a glass half empty or half full. We have to sacrifice in life in order to reach happiness and become complete again. From experience in living life, we all know how hard it is to attain this point in our lives, to love and move on. In the end, we have come to learn the moral of this ballad; things had to get worse in order to get better. He was a victim of society and the hardships he was encountering, just like those of Simon Lee.