In Memoriam: An Early Animal Rights Poem
My dog died yesterday. With no assist; all natural. Kidney failure. Quick and peaceful. She was a good dog. In her memory I quote this poem.
Written in 1773 by the poet wife of the scientist who would be credited with identifying oxygen, it is told from the point of view of a lab mouse contemplating his fate.
In The Age Of Wonder, Historian Richard Holmes calls it “perhaps the first animal-rights manifesto ever written.”
For here forlorn and sad I sit,
Within the wiry grate,
And tremble at the approaching morn
Which brings impending fate…The cheerful light, the vital air,
Are blessings widely given;
Let nature’s commoners enjoy
The common gifts of Heaven.The well-taught, philosophic mind
To all compassion gives;
Casts round the world an equal eye,
And feels for all that lives.
Via Robert Krulwich on NPR, “This mouse may one day become a poster mouse for animal rights, being the first little mammal to be celebrated in this way. But its fate, alas, is unknown.”
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