I'm putting together another collection of poems for my Friday Poetry group. We take it in turns to organise each week's program and I like to be ready for my turn. I found a poem by John Masefield called The Lemmings. It's about how these creatures throw themselves off a cliff and die in the sea. I've heard this before and thought it was to do with over-population. The poem, though, says these creatures are responding to a race memory of a land which was once where the sea is now and the creatures are seeking this land which will provide them with food in difficult times.
Which story is true? Only Google will know. The reality is they are both myths. Lemmings rarely suffer from over-population and are kept under control by predators like stoats and birds. The myth about throwing themselves into the sea came from a 1958 Disney movie called White Wilderness in which the producers, for dramatic effect, threw hordes of lemmings off the cliff. Wonderful, Walt, your mother would have been so proud.
No comments:
Post a Comment