{"id":268,"date":"2012-10-30T05:37:55","date_gmt":"2012-10-30T05:37:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/?p=268"},"modified":"2018-04-09T03:26:33","modified_gmt":"2018-04-09T02:26:33","slug":"the-shepherd-the-wolf-the-ewe-and-the-lamb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/the-shepherd-the-wolf-the-ewe-and-the-lamb\/","title":{"rendered":"The Shepherd, the Wolf, The Ewe, and the Lamb"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
This story, while a moral tale in its own right, is based on the tragic tale of Savita Halappanavar, the woman who died this week in UCG Hospital in Galway Ireland, after she needed her baby removed from her womb at 17 weeks gestation to save her life.\u00a0<\/address>\n
The doctor, saying they wanted to stay within the law, said not until the baby died could it be moved. Another woman told Savita and her husband it couldn’t be done as Ireland was a Catholic country.To her pleas she was neither Irish or Catholic, being a Hindu dentist from India working in the area, she was still denied, citing law and national feeling, and she had the fetus removed after the heartbeat stopped, by which time infection had set in and she died a short time after.<\/p>\n<\/address>\n<\/div>\n
\n
It is a watershed case for the pro-life movement, as the family demanded abortion, but was denied, even though every pro-life body from Youth Defense to the Catholic Church have said that the baby should have been removed either surgically or by induced birth as it was miscarrying anyway, and the mothers life saved. It was not abortion, as it was not done deliberate to kill the child, but done to save the mother, an unintentional side effect being the killing of the child, unavoidable as it was miscarrying anyway.\u00a0<\/address>\n
This poem is a pro-lifers attempt to square the circle that the doctors couldn’t being unable to think outside the box.<\/address>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n<\/div>\n

The Shepherd, the Wolf, The Ewe, and the Lamb<\/h1>\n

The farmer to his shepherd spoke
\nIn a field some years ago
\nWho when trying to save the flock from the wolf
\nHe lost both lamb and ewe.
\nThe shepherd to the farmer pleaded
\nAs for mercy from the farmer he sought
\nExplained why he did what he did
\nAs he thought he aught.<\/p>\n

The wolf among the flock had come
\nWho each in terror fled
\nFollowing the leader of the flock
\nAs sheep do, in mortal dread
\nFrom field to field the wolf stalked them
\nAs the shepherd tried to drive him away
\nBut the wolf was hungry with young to feed
\nAnd would not be kept at bay.<\/p>\n

Now in a ditch that was flooded
\nA lamb and young floundered lost
\nThe youth, being keen to do what’s right
\nSaid he would save them, never mind the cost
\nSo he waded in to save the lamb
\nAnd held it up in the air
\nAnd waded out the other side triumphant
\nAs if he were a champion warrior there.<\/p>\n

The ewe, distressed, her bleats pleading
\nOut to her lamb she did cry
\nThe youth to get her waded back
\nLeaving the lamb on the bank to dry
\nAnd while the mother he in van grappled
\nHer by now being sodden wet
\nThe wolf struck the lamb down dead
\nBefore out of the water the shepherd could get.<\/p>\n

And on the bank, with stick in hand
\nAt the wolf he did beat
\nYes, the wolf ran from his meal
\nBut the shepherd saw defeat
\nWith streaming eyes of tears
\nHe to his anguish found
\nOn returning to the waters gorging
\nThe ewe herself had drowned.<\/p>\n

What is a shepherd to do, he asked
\nI tried to think as you
\nHe said to the farmer stern
\n“”I Thought, what would you do?
\nI am but a shepherd
\nI’m no farmer, but a youth I am
\nAnd a shepherd’s is only a good one
\nWhen he cares for the weakest lamb.””<\/p>\n

The farmer in anger spoke
\nWith venom in his voice
\nTold the youth to choose the lamb
\nIf again for another farmer had the choice.
\nWhy should a child think like a man
\nIt is not his place to be
\nIn trying to save the lamb he lost them both
\nBut a foolish youth was he.<\/p>\n

“”You are not the farmer”” said the farmer
\n“”You do not own the land
\nThese sheep are not your own
\nYou do not understand
\nYou lost the ewe you young fool
\nBy trying to save the lamb
\nYou lost him too to save yourself
\nYour not the farmer, I am!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This story, while a moral tale in its own right, is based on the tragic tale of Savita Halappanavar, the woman who died this week in UCG Hospital in Galway Ireland, after she needed her baby removed from her womb at 17 weeks gestation to save her life.\u00a0 The doctor, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[234,136,53,55,155],"tags":[391,438,435,436,437],"class_list":["post-268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-abortion","category-catholic-church-scandals","category-civil-rights","category-current-affairs-in-ireland","category-death","tag-galway","tag-pregnancy","tag-savita","tag-savita-hallapanavar","tag-sepsis","column","twocol"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7EI4f-4k","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":156,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/blog-savita-a-tragedy-of-errors-and-the-abortion-issue\/","url_meta":{"origin":268,"position":0},"title":"Blog – Savita, a Tragedy of Errors and the Abortion Issue","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"6th April 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Savita case is a tragedy of errors that ought never have happened, and while no-one has been blamed as\u00c2\u00a0responsible\u00c2\u00a0as such - nothing new there - it is clear that free for all abortion would not solve the issue, and is a\u00c2\u00a0separate\u00c2\u00a0issue that cannot be used to argue for or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Abortion"","block_context":{"text":"Abortion","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/abortion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Why was a section not done? The mothers life would have been saved, though the baby probably would have died, it would be natural, not killed with intent in the womb as in abortion.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Savita-Halappanavar-224x300.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3552,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/my-ireland\/","url_meta":{"origin":268,"position":1},"title":"My Ireland","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"22nd February 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Stephen James Smith, the founder of the once epic Gl\u00f3r Sessions in the International Bar did a verse for the St. Patricks Festival on the theme of \"My Ireland\". 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