"The Hound" by Robert Francis

"The Hound" by Robert Francis

Life the hound
Equivocal
Comes at a bound
Either to rend me 
Or to befriend me.

I cannot tell
The hound’s intent
Till he has sprung
At my bare hand
With teeth or tongue.
Meanwhile I stand
And wait the event.

In the poem “The Hound”, Robert Francis compares the unpredictability and mystery of life to that of an unknown dog. By using this metaphor, he is able to describe many of the situations and struggles we face throughout our lives. In the beginning, Francis says that life (portrayed through the dog) comes to him unexpectedly, not knowing if it would either hurt or help him. With the idea of how unpredictable it can be in mind, he doesn’t know which way life is taking him until it is right there in front of him. So patiently, he must wait to see what the futures holds for him. Life can either go well for you or not, but in the end, you never really know where it will take you. This is what Francis is trying to convey by using the dog—just like life, an unknown dog can spring up out of nowhere and put you in this dilemma of uncertainty. You’ll ask yourself, Is this ‘dog’ going to hurt me or is it going to be my friend? You can’t possibly know until the dog reacts, and when it does, it will either attack you or greet you with kindness. As simple as this poem is, Robert Francis does a great job of strengthening its meaning by using the metaphor of life and the dog. There’s no way of knowing what will happen when you chose a path in life, and Francis illustrates this in such a beautiful, yet sincere, way.