The Badger in the spinney is the true king of this land.
All creatures are his tenants, though not all understand.
Didicoi red and roe-deer, gypsy foxes, romany otters -
They squabble about their boundaries, but all of them are squatters.
Even the grandest farm-house, what is it but a camp
In the land where the singing Badger walks the woods with his hooded lamp?
A farmer's but a blowing seed with a flower of crops and herds.
His tractors and his combines are as airy as his words.
But the Badger's fort was dug when the whole land was one oak.
His face is his ancient coat of arms, and he wears the same grey cloak.
As if time had not passed at all, as if there were no such thing,
As if there were only the one night-kingdom and its Badger King.
Ted Hughes (extract from What is Truth)
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| Badger at dusk (source: The Ecologist) |
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