The Fox

I. L. SalomonAnxious

Incursive on the frozen snow, Wary blaze in vulpine eyes, Islanded in solitude, The fox in moonlight on the rise Kept his stance as I my own, Chaos in him as in me, Shut in the inviolate Aorta, stinging icily.

Malice in him; yet he knew I too with infected will Had set my trap, a stratagem As secretive as his own skill; The semblance of his evil, mine; Mine as his; when in the numb Absolute of silence, he Disappeared as he had come.

I. L. Salomon

SourceLicence:Public domain (US, unrenewed)

Mood:: Anxious
Topics:: snow, trap, fox

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Summary

A speaker comes across a fox standing on a rise in the moonlight, and the two of them hold each other's gaze in the freezing quiet. At first the fox seems like pure menace: its eyes blaze, it is alone, and the speaker senses chaos and "malice" in it. But the encounter turns inward. The speaker realises that his own will is "infected" too, and that he has set a trap of his own, as secret as the fox's cunning. The two evils mirror each other: "The semblance of his evil, mine; / Mine as his."

Look at how the opening letters of the lines spell out the poet's name, a quiet signal that the speaker is looking at himself. The mood is tense, cold and hushed, full of icy stillness and wary recognition. Then the fox simply vanishes "as he had come," leaving the speaker alone with an uncomfortable truth about his own nature.

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