# Lycabas explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by George MacDonald.

## What happens

The speaker reflects on the year's months as wolves, initially a source of fear and destruction that has driven away his lambs. Yet he comes to see them not as predators but as the Shepherd's sheep-dogs, sent to gather the lambs home to the castle of Love. The chapter moves from terror to trust, recognizing divine purpose in life's harshness.

## Themes in this chapter

### Suffering and Purification

The speaker's wounds from the months are real, yet they serve to drive him home to the Shepherd, purifying his perspective.

### Redemption and Grace

The wolves are revealed as the Shepherd's sheep-dogs, transforming fear into trust and showing grace in what seemed destructive.

### Love as Ultimate Strength

The castle of Love is the safe home; love is the law of liberty that overcomes fear and hate.

## Character check-ins

### Lycabas

The year personified as a march of wolves or path of light; addressed directly by the speaker.

### Love

Referred to as the Father of Love, the destination of the radiant march.

### God

Implied as the Shepherd who gathers the lambs and leads the sheep-dogs.

## Key lines

> Lycabas! Lycabas! twelve to growl and slay? Men hearken at night, and lie in fear, Some men hearken all day!

The twelve months are like wolves that terrify people day and night.

_Introduces the central metaphor of the months as predatory wolves._

> Ye have hunted away my lambs! ... My lambs they fled, and they came not back!

The months have driven away the speaker's beloved ones, who never returned.

_Expresses loss and grief over those taken by time._

> Now, now I know you!—the Shepherd's sheep-dogs! Friends of us sheep on the moors and bogs, Lost so often in swamps and fogs!

The speaker realizes the wolves are actually the Shepherd's dogs, guiding the lost sheep home.

_Climactic reversal: the feared months are revealed as benevolent helpers._

> Hunt me still back, nor let me stray Out of the infinite narrow way, The radiant march of the Lord of Light Home to the Father of Love and Might, Where each puts Thou in the place of I, And Love is the Law of Liberty.

Let the months continue to drive me on the narrow path toward God, where self is replaced by love and freedom.

_Final prayer embracing the months' role in leading to divine union._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters/lycabas
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_8_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters