Poetry and Animals: Blurring the Boundaries with the Human

253 Pages·2018·2.955 MB·English

by  Onno Oerlemans

POETRY AND ANIMALS

P O E T RY A N D
A N I M A L S
B LU R R I N G T H E B O U N DA R I E S
with
T H E H U M A N
ONNO OERLEMANS
Columbia University
New York
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
cup .columbia .edu
Copyright © 2018 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Oerlemans, Onno, 1961– author.
Title: Poetry and animals: blurring the boundaries with the human /
Onno Oerlemans.
Description: New York: Columbia University, 2018. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017049986 | ISBN 9780231159548 (cloth: alk. paper) |
ISBN 9780231547420 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Animals in literature. | Exempla in literature. |
Anthropomorphism in literature. | Human-animal relationships in literature. |
Animal welfare in literature. | Animals—Symbolic aspects. | Poetry,
Modern—History and criticism. | Poetry, Medieval—History and criticism.
Classification: LCC PN1083.A5 O37 2018 | DDC 809.1/9362—dc23
LC record available at https: //lccn .loc .gov /2017049986
Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent
and durable acid-free paper.
Printed in the United States of America
Cover design: Julia Kushnirsky
Cover image: courtesy of the author
FOR SALLY
•

Nature poetry should not be taken to be avoiding
anthropomorphism, but to be enacting it, thoughtfully.
—DON MCKAY, VIS À VIS

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments xi
INTRODUCTION
1
1 THE ANIMAL IN ALLEGORY:
FROM CHAUCER TO GRAY
27
2 POEMS OF THE ANIMAL
52
3 POETRY AS FIELD GUIDE: THE SPECIES POEM
83
4 THE INDIVIDUAL ANIMAL IN POETRY
119
5 OF HYBRIDITY AND THE HYBRID
154