| To See the Rabbit ( after Prévert ) Alan Brownjohn We are going to see the rabbit. We are going to see the rabbit. Which rabbit, people say? Which rabbit, ask the children? WHICH rabbit? The only rabbit, The only rabbit in England, Sitting behind a barbed-wire fence Under the floodlights, neon lights, Sodium lights, Nibbling grass On the only patch of grass In England, in England (Except the grass by the hoardings Which doesn’t count ). We are going to see the rabbit And we must be there on time. First we shall go by escalator, Then we shall go by underground, And then we shall go by motorway, And then by helicopter way, And the last ten yards we shall have to go on foot. And now we are going All the way to see the rabbit, We are nearly there, We are longing to see it, And so is the crowd Which is here in thousands With mounted policemen And big loudspeakers And bands and banners, And everyone has come a long way. But soon we shall see it Sitting and nibbling The blades of grass In – but something has gone wrong ! Why is everyone so angry, Why is everyone jostling And slanging and complaining? The rabbit has gone, Yes, the rabbit has gone. He has actually burrowed down into the earth And made himself a warren, under the earth Despite all these people. And what shall we do? What CAN we do? It is all a pity, you must be disappointed, Go home and do something else for today, Go home again, go home for today. For you cannot hear the rabbit, under the earth, Remarking rather sadly to himself, by himself, As he rests in his warren, under the earth: “It won’t be long, they are bound to come, They are bound to come and find me, even here.” Vocabulary Guide Barbed wire = wire with short, sharp points. Floodlights= powerful lights, often used in sports stadiums Nibbling= a way of eating, with small bites Patch = piece or area of something Hoarding = a large board where advertisements are displayed Underground= train system which goes under the ground Longing = hoping, desiring Crowd = large amount of people Loudspeaker = apparatus for making sounds louder Banner= long piece of cloth between two poles. Often used in demonstrations. Blade = individual leaf of grass Jostling = come into physical contact with, in a rough way Slanging= using bad language, insulting. Burrow = dig Warren = series of tunnels where rabbits live below the ground Pity = shame Disappointed = unhappy Sadly = not happily Bound to = likely to, almost certainly Activities 1 Listen carefully to the rhythm of the poem. Where, do you think, the poet wrote it? a) in a car b) on a train c) on a plane. Give your reasons why you think this? 2 Do people have to travel far in order to see the rabbit? What lines in the poem tell us the answer? 3 What kind of world is this poem set in ? 4 Will the rabbit be found ? How do you know ? 5 Underline the word which is different: Bite nibble watch chew Rabbit hamster guinea-pig snake Motorway underground bus heliport House bungalow warren city Sing jostle complain slang 6 Write ONE of the following short dialogues/ monologues: A) A conversation between one of the mounted policeman and someone in the crowd. B) A conversation between the Chief of Police and the mounted policemen. C) The rabbit and someone interviewing him / her for a television report. D) A newsreader telling the viewers about the rabbit story. Before you begin writing, try to think about HOW the people/ rabbit will be feeling in the situation the poem relates. |
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