In "To the doctor who treated the raped baby and who felt such despair," the word "and" is repeated at the beginning of seven different lines. How...

“To the doctor who treated the raped baby and who felt such despair” is a poem written by South African poet Finuala Dowling.

First, let’s start with a brief summary. As the title suggests, the poem is written to a doctor who’s treating a baby who has been raped. The poem contrasts lines (these are the ones that start with “and”) about the doctor’s actions with lines about normal nighttime activities in normal families, where...

“To the doctor who treated the raped baby and who felt such despair” is a poem written by South African poet Finuala Dowling.

First, let’s start with a brief summary. As the title suggests, the poem is written to a doctor who’s treating a baby who has been raped. The poem contrasts lines (these are the ones that start with “and”) about the doctor’s actions with lines about normal nighttime activities in normal families, where parents care for their children. This contrast highlights the cruelty of the child’s assault, placing kind, normal actions next to tragedy.

As I mentioned, the lines about the doctor’s actions all begin with the word “and.” There are a couple ways to interpret this use. On a structural level, any time “and” is used repeatedly at the beginning of a line in a poem, it usually builds momentum and flow. Think about it this way – when we talk, we often use “and” to link our sentences rather than creating neat, complete ones. For example, “I was talking to her and she said hi and we talked for a while and then I left” sounds more natural than “I was talking to her. She said hi. We talked for a while. I left.” So on one level, the repeated use of “and” structurally ties the poem together, building momentum and making the poem read in one breath rather than distinct sentences. It’s a “real” voice, rather than a performative one.

In terms of content, the use of “and” reinforces the distinction between the doctor’s work and normalcy. Dowling writes, “and when you called for more blood / a bleary-eyed uncle got up to make a feed / and while you stitched / there was another chapter of a favourite story.” Dowling repeatedly lets her reader out of the tragedy, showing them a quiet scene, showing them a child who is well, then uses “and” to pull the reader back to the baby who is hurt, back into a scene that should not have happened.

An analysis done for a related question about this poem can be found at the link below.