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