I find the image of the frenetically clowning monkey trying to keep back the raging, griefstricken dog enormously original and striking. It's this powerful animal imagery that gives the poem its extremely visceral feeling of fear and grief and pain. I'm also in the leaving-the-couplet-as-is camp. Having the "last farewell" come at the end makes the whole situation come together at the end with a climactic forcefulness that strikes right to the heart.
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