I have to admit that I first encountered this poem in a film, but it has resonated with me ever since. The poem is seemingly simple, yet its comment on the inimitable capacity for humans to feel sorry themselves is quite profound.
I never saw a wild thing
sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
without ever having felt sorry for itself.
Adding video of this poem will cheapen it, but here goes anyway:
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How do you know the bird has not felt ‘sorry’ for itself?
Are any emotions really exclusive to humans?
Are we not very arrogant to answer ‘yes’ to this?