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Please explain the poem "All But Blind" by Walter De La Mare.
The poem is as follows:
"All but blind
In his chambered hole
Groped for worms
The four-clawed Mole.
All but blind
In the evening sky,
The hooded Bat
Twirls softly by.
All but blind
In the burning day
The Barn-Owl blunders
On her way.
And blind as are
These three to me,
So, blind to someone
I must be."
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In this poem, the writer describes three members of the animal kingdom that are considered to be "blind" by the human world, yet each manages to get by quite well. De La Mare speaks first...
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In the poem Walter Delamere names three animals (mole, bat, owl) which according to human standards are blind, but see clearly enough in their own ways. It is important to remember that in Delamere's time, the way that bats navigate by ultrasound was still undiscovered: how bats functioned was a complete mystery to the science of the time. Delamere is reminding us that there is more than one way of 'seeing'. Someone may seem 'blind' to us, but they may be clear-sighted enough in a way that we fail to understand.
comment breifly on the poet use of the word blinds. what other words re-inforce our awarness of the blindness of the mole and the owl.
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