The Oxymoron in “For a Lamb”

What is an oxymoron? It's a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory appear in conjunction. In layman's terms it's basically when two very unlike things are placed together. One poem that emphasizes this well is the poem, “For a Lamb” by poet, Richard Eberhart.  

Chapter 10 talks about tone and how this poem has more of a realistic tone based on the words he used. However in my honest opinion it seems quite grim. Yes it may be the natural part of life but the words the poet uses change the tone. In line 1 the speaker says, “I saw on the slant hill a putrid lamb,” The word putrid just seems like such a disgusting word. Also, this is one of the points that has evidence of oxymoron. When I think of a lamb I think of something clean, cute, soft, and innocent. However, with the word putrid said in front of lamb it presents a different tone. Based on the word it seems more like death, than life. However in the next two lines  it says, “Propped with daisies. The sleep looked deep, / The face nudged in the green pillow” (2-3) Though these two lines represent the death of the lamb, it seems a lot more peaceful and serine. The words such as sleep and pillow gives it that calmer tone. The next line changes up the tone once more, “But the guts were out for the crows to eat.” (4) It’s this shift in tone that makes it stand out much more, especially since the two lines just before it had a opposite tone.