"For a Lamb" by Richard Eberhart

Richard Eberhart’s “For a Lamb” has a tone of resigned tragedy.  The speaker describes the lamb using the word “putrid”, which contrasts sharply with the traditional innocent and peaceful connotations of a lamb (1).  This contrast creates a shocking image and therefore a tragic mood.  The speaker uses “sleep” as a euphemism for death, enhancing the sense of tragedy by understating it (2).  In the second stanza, the speaker asks, “Where’s the lamb?” (5). Like the “sleep” euphemism, this questions adds to the tragic tone because of its innocence.  This innocence contrasts with the “putrid” death of the lamb, making it seem more tragic.