My Mother Saw A Dancing Bear

My mother saw a dancing bear

Charles Causley

My mother saw a dancing bear

By the schoolyard, a day in June.

The keeper stood with chain and bar

And whistle-pipe, and played a tune

 

And bruin lifted up its head

And lifted up its dusty feet.

And all the children laughed to see

It caper in the summer heat

They watched as for the queen it died.

They watched it march.  They watched it halt.

They heard the keeper as he cried.

“Now roly-poly!” “Somersault!”

 

And then, my mother said there came

The keeper with a begging-cup,

The bear with burning coat of fur,

Shaming the laughter to a stop.

They paid a penny for the dance.

But what they saw was not the show;

Only, in bruin’s aching eyes,

Far distant forests and the snow.

 

 

  

Summary

 

This narrative poem describes the entertainment of a dancing bear which earns money by the dance.  But the children who enjoy the bear dance could see the unhappiness and discomfort of it

and the children could not enjoy the performance.

 

Charles Causley

The British poet was born on 24^th August 1917 at Launcheston, Cornwall. He was educated at local primary school and Launeston College.  Due to the family situation he left school and worked as a clerk.  He played in a dance band and wrote few plays. His works are simple and bring out the richness of the folklore. He worked in the Pacific on the aircraft carrier HMS Glory.  He wrote about his experiences in the war in his poetry.  Until his last breath he published in magazines, in anthologies and then many editions of his Collected Poems.  A very friendly person to approach.  He had a very good association with Siegfried Sassoon, A.L.Rose, Susan Hill, Jack Clemo and Ted Hughes.  In 1958 Causley became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.  At t the age of 83, he became a Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature.  On his 65^th birthday a book of poems was published to honor him.  His works were influenced by the traditional folk poems.  He was reading the full text of “Eden Rock” just before his death in 2003.

 

Detail analysis of the poem

Stanza 1

“My mother saw a dancing bear

By the schoolyard, a day in June.

The keeper stood with chain and bar

And whistle-pipe, and played a tune”

 

In the first stanza the poet describes the dance of a bear.  His mother by the school yard on a very hot day in June could see a dancing bear dancing to the tunes of a whistle pipe by its keeper.  The

keeper of the bear tightens the chain and the bar to control the bear to dance according the tunes.

 

Stanza 2

 

“And bruin lifted up its head

And lifted up its dusty feet.

And all the children laughed to see

It caper in the summer heat

They watched as for the queen it died.

They watched it march.  They watched it halt.

They heard the keeper as he cried.

“Now roly-poly!” “Somersault!”

 

The 2^nd stanza talks about the enjoyment of the children.  They enjoy the dancing performance of the bear.  It is a great amusement for the children.  They laughed and watched the bear marching smartly and stopping for a while and made poses in the summer heat. It acts as if he gives his life for the queen.  The bear hears the commands of the keeper and obeys as he say “rolly -poly somersault.” The bear is well trained to obey the commands of the master.

 Stanza 3

 “And then, my mother said there came

The keeper with a begging-cup,

The bear with burning coat of fur,

Shaming the laughter to a stop.

They paid a penny for the dance.

But what they saw was not the show;

Only, in bruin’s aching eyes,

Far distant forests and the snow.”

 The poet in this stanza gives the message to the readers.  He describes the reality of the life of the bear and its keeper.  After the show, the keeper goes around with the bear and the begging bowl.  He goes around the crowd with the hope of getting money.  The laughter in the crowd stops and

they pay a penny to the keeper.  The poet ends the poem by describing the feeling of the crowd here.  The penny is given to the keeper not for the amusing behavior of the bear but for its aching eyes for the far distant forest and snow

 

Literary devices

 Theme - it starts with the entertainment of the children and ends with an awareness message to the society. 

The cruelty of the animals is well expressed. 

The ignorance of the society is the cause of the suffering of the animals.

 Tone - happiness changes into seriousness

 Rhyming pattern is ABAB

 “The keeper stood with chain and bar” the chain and the bar symbolizes the controlling power of the humans over the innocent animals.  The chain which is attached the nose of the bear gives intense pain to the bear and does what the keeper says. A sinful situation.

 “And lifted up its dusty feet.” The hard work of the bear could be felt by the dusty feet. 

 “They watched it march.  They watched it halt” repetition of watched shows the performance of the bear which amuses the children.

 “Now roly-poly!” “Somersault!” commanding tone of the keeper controls the bear and incites the poor animal to perform.

 “The bear with burning coat of fur,” the suffering of the bear is well visualized by the poet.  In summer heat the bear follows the commands of its keeper and works for him as a slave.

 The ironical part of the poem is the show supposed to entertain the children.  But it brings silence and guilty among the crowd.  They are silent.  They now realize the pain of the poor animal. 

 Questions

1. What are the things the keeper was carrying? What do you think he used for?

         Chain and the bar

 2. What tricks did the bear perform?

         Dances, lifts up its head, lifts up its dusty fee and somersault. 

 3. was the bear happy or sad? Identify any three phrases from the poem that support your opinion?

 The bear was not happy “the keeper stood chain and bar”, “the keeper as he cried.

“Now roly-poly!” “Somersault!”

“The bear with burning coat of fur”, only, in bruin’s aching eyes, Far distant forests and the snow.”

 4. What is the message the poet is trying to give through this poem?

      Stop cruelty to the animals.

 5. Why did the children stop laughing at the bruin?  What did they feel for the bear?

   The children could see the pain of the bear in his painful eyes.  They feel sad and guilty.

 Thank you