The Bat

Lightless, unholy, eldritch thing,

Whose murky and erratic wing
Swoops so sickeningly, and whose
Aspect to the female Muse
Is a demon's, made of stuff
Like tattered, sooty waterproof,
Looking dirty, clammy, cold.

Wicked, poisonous, and old;

I have maligned thee! . . . for the Cat
Lately caught a little bat,
Seized it softly, bore it in.
On the carpet, dark as sin
In the lamplight, painfully
It limped about, and could not fly.

Even fear must yield to love,

And pity make the depths to move.
Though sick with horror, I must stoop,
Grasp it gently, take it up,
And carry it, and place it where
It could resume the twilight air.

Strange revelation! warm as milk,

Clean as a flower, smooth as silk!
O what a piteous face appears,
What great fine thin translucent ears
What chestnut down and crapy wings,
Finer than any lady's things —
And O a little one that clings!
Warm, clean, and lovely, though not fair,
And burdened with a mother's care;
Go hunt the hurtful fly, and bear
My Blessing to your kind in air.

Ruth Pitter, ‘The Bat’, in Collected Poems (1996)

Definitions
eldritch: weird and sinister or ghostly
Muse: a source of creative inspiration
crapy: delicately wrinkled, also spelled “crepey”

Guiding Question
How does the poet portray the development of the speaker’s attitude towards the bat?

How does the poet portray the development of the speaker’s attitude towards the bat?

The poem The Bat by Ruth Pitter portrays the speaker’s journey from horror and disgust
to discovery and appreciation for bats. The speaker initially depicts the bat as
something supernatural, something alien and not worthy of having a place on earth,
however their perspective changes through the experience of pity and possibly empathy
for the bat once it is injured. Through this journey and development, Pitter displays the
importance of appearance versus reality in nature and the effect that pity has on the
human mind and human nature. Through the initial portrayal of a disgusted and
judgmental tone in the poem, Pitter is able to juxtapose the later descriptions of the bat
to evoke the theme of appearance versus reality, and through the use of changing
structure and tone, Pitter is able to evoke the influence that pity has on the development
of the speaker.

Through the use of biblical allusions, asyndeton and imagery, Pitter establishes a rather
disgusted and judgmental tone to present the bat as vermin and something repulsive.
The use of asyndeton in the first line of the poem - “Lightless, unholy, eldritch thing” -
explicitly portrays the narrator’s view of bats. This technique allows the poet to
emphasise and exaggerate the disgust felt towards the bat. The use of biblical allusion
reflects the fact that bats are traditionally seen as a bad omen or carriers of bad spirits,
usually associated with vampires and other blood-sucking creatures that threaten life.
The use of “unholy” and “demon” as well as the simile “dark as sin” all refer to this
warped perception of bats as being creatures of evil, which clearly influences the
speaker who seems entranced by this train of thought. Furthermore, the alliteration of
“swoops so sickeningly” adds to the tone of disgust, and the onomatopoeia of “swoops”
portrays the bat as sneaky and sly, a threat that is lurking and can come at any time,
which connects to the depicted “wicked” nature of the bat. Additionally, the idea that the
bat is vermin is presented through the imagery and the use of a semantic field of words
associated with something that pollutes or contaminates: the bat is described as “dirty”
and “sooty” and “poisonous”. Through these techniques, the speaker is able to
effectively establish their personal view of the bat and how they perceive them, thus
allowing the reader to discover more about them.

Through the poem, Pitter’s perspective on bats clearly evolves, and the contrast
between the different descriptions of the bat evokes the theme of appearance versus
reality in nature. The initial contrast is made through the change in semantic field to
describe the bat. Initially, it is “sooty”, “cold” and “clammy”, however in the seventh
stanza, the antonyms of these adjectives are used to describe the bat: “clean”, “warm”
and “smooth”. In order to engage the reader in the juxtaposition, Pitter employs similes
using simple relatable things such as “milk”, “a flower” and “silk” to evoke a sense of
comfort and familiarity. This sense of familiarity surprises the speaker as the use of
interjection and exclamation, such as “Strange revelation!”, and the use of “O” portrays
a sense of revelation and discovery. This atmosphere of surprise and revelation
exposes the theme of appearance versus reality as the speaker realises how their initial
judgments about the bat were wrong, and how although it appeared “sooty” and “dirty”,
the poet never truly appreciated the reality of the beauty of the bat, and its fragility,
which intrigues the narrator. Pitter may therefore be stressing the importance of
acceptance and how perceptions might be clouded by prior experiences or simply from
lack of attention. This idea of acceptance is portrayed in the line “Even fear must yield to
love”. This line evokes a sense of eventuality that acceptance and love can always be
found and the verb “must” allows Pitter to stress the importance of the transition from
appearance and judgments to reality. She may also be implying that beauty can be
found in many ways and in many forms, which can and possibly should be appreciated.
This is paralleled through the bat, and the “blessings” she gives to the bat and its kind.

In her poem Pitter may be exploring the intricacies of human nature and how pity and
vulnerability have an effect on humans. Through a change in structure in the poem,
Pitter mirrors the development of her attitude and view of the bat. The first two stanzas
have the same more regimented structure which could parallel the speaker’s close-
minded view of bats as vermin. As the structure changes in stanza 3 to a smaller
stanza, Pitter may be emphasising how “pity” has influenced this close-minded view,
and is opening the eyes to allow herself and the reader to experience and appreciate
the reality of the bat. Pitter may have chosen to evoke a sense of pity as it implies a
sense of vulnerability on the bat’s part, and a sense of power from the speaker. This
vulnerability of the bat is implied through the description of the bat “limp[ing]...painfully”
and this provokes an emotion in the speaker who, although they were “sick with horror”,
helped the bat. This sense of moral duty or obligation is expressed through the use of
the modal verb “must”, conveying that the speaker feels there was no other choice but
to help the bat. Pitter is therefore exploring the strength of pity as an emotion and its
effects on human nature. She encapsulates her thoughts in the second line of the third
stanza - “pity make the depths to move”. The “depths” may be referring to the inner-
most part of human nature, of the essence of someone’s soul, and through this
metaphor, Pitter showcases her thought that pity is able to change perception and
behaviour, influencing a person to the “depth” of their being. Hence the emotion of pity
is central to the development of the poet’s attitude towards the bat, as without pity, Pitter
may not have ever experienced the beauty of the bat.

In conclusion, Ruth PItter depicts the journey of discovery of the hidden beauty in
nature, and how perceived appearances can cloud the reality of the beauty in nature
which is paralleled through the discovery of the beauty of the bat. Through biblical
allusions vivid imagery, tone and structure, the poet is able to put forward the
importance of appreciation and acceptance, and how human emotion allows views to
change for the better. She uses the bat as a vehicle to explore her thoughts and
beliefs.

CRITERION A: UNDERSTANDING AND INTERPRETATION

 How well does the candidate demonstrate an understanding of the text and draw
reasoned conclusions from implications in it?
 How well are ideas supported by references to the text?

4 out of 5. The response conveys a good understanding of the text in response to the
guiding question. While it deals with the literal meaning briefly, the exploration of
implications is convincing and supported by frequent and relevant references to the
text. The interpretation focused on "appearance versus reality" and the effect of pity on
the speaker is well developed, although it does not really deal with the "subtleties" of the
text in a way that could be considered "insightful" as required for the top band.

CRITERION B: ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION

 To what extent does the candidate analyse and evaluate how textual features and/or
authorial choices shape meaning?

4 out of 5. The response is well focused on the poet's choices and how these shape
meaning, with a good range of relevant textual features explored. There were moments
of impressive close analysis and strong connections made across the text; however,
these were 'moments' rather than the consistent approach expected for the top band.

CRITERION C: FOCUS AND ORGANIZATION

 How well organized, coherent and focused is the presentation of ideas?

4 out of 5. This is a well organized and coherent response, consistently focused and
clear, without necessarily being effective in the way it presents its argument.

CRITERION D: LANGUAGE

 How clear, varied and accurate is the language?

 How appropriate is the choice of register and style?

4 out of 5. While expression could be more precise and nuanced at times, the style is
consistently appropriate and there is a good degree of accuracy.