Philip Larkin, English poet of distinction: August 9, 1922 - 1985…
Here he pays homage to Robert Burns…
—
Philip Larkin: The Mower
The mower stalled, twice; kneeling, I found
A hedgehog jammed up against the blades,
Killed. It had been in the long grass.
I had seen it before, and even fed it, once.
Now I had mauled its unobtrusive world
Unmendably. Burial was no help:
Next morning I got up and it did not.
The first day after a death, the new absence
Is always the same; we should be careful
Of each other, we should be kind
While there is still time.
—
Photo: Rollie McKenna, 1960 - bromide print (NPG, London)
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