In "The doctor who treated the raped baby and who felt such despair" the poem seems to move between contrasting settings. Quote and discuss...

In Finuala Dowling’s poem “To the doctor who treated the raped baby and who felt such despair” she compares a horrific situation with examples of normality. The doctor faces the task of dealing with the raped baby’s injuries while around the world, other children experience the care they deserve.

that on the night in question

there was a light on in the hall

for a nervous little sleeper

and when the bleeding baby was admitted...

In Finuala Dowling’s poem “To the doctor who treated the raped baby and who felt such despair” she compares a horrific situation with examples of normality. The doctor faces the task of dealing with the raped baby’s injuries while around the world, other children experience the care they deserve.

that on the night in question

there was a light on in the hall

for a nervous little sleeper

and when the bleeding baby was admitted to your care

faraway a Karoo shepherd crooned a ramkietjie lullaby in the veld

and while you staunched

there was space on a mother-warmed sheet

for a night walker

Her poem is formatted so each of the doctor’s actions while treating the baby is aligned with the action of a family member caring for another child. Lights are left on for children who are afraid of the dark, a shepard sings a calming song, and a mother makes room in her bed for a child seeking comfort in the night.

The author does this to emphasize the gravity of the crime against the child, and the toll it takes on the physician. In addition, the format explains how society can ignore this type of problem because we do not have deal with it. The doctor questions the existence of God.

And for the rest of us, we all slept in trust

that you would do what you did,

that you could do what you did.

We slept in trust that you lived.