William Cowper, an 18^th -century Protestant, may be best known for tormented, eloquent poems of religious fervor and despair. Apparently, he was convinced that he was already damned to hell.

This poem about his not very nice but beloved pet rabbit, Tiney, is funny and charming, but those qualities do not divorce the poem from Cowper's intense melancholy and dread. The poem is about death and comfort, and it demonstrates the genuineness of its humility by its careful attention to details. The straightforwardness and smiling directness are sad, temperate, heartfelt, and moving, as well as droll.

--Robert Pinsky

To hear Robert Pinsky read "Epitaph on a Hare,", click here.

Here lies, whom hound did ne'er pursue,

Nor swifter greyhound follow,

Whose foot ne'er tainted, morning dew,

Nor ear heard huntsman's hallo',



Old Tiney, surliest of his kind,

Who, nursed with tender care,

And to domestic bounds confined,

Was still a wild jack-hare.



Though duly from my hand he took

His pittance every night,

He did it with a jealous look,