Reading and Discussion Guide for ​Animals as Characters ​Poetry Collection
For the “Beyond Human: Animals in Literature” CCLS Regional Read
Guide written by Lacey Andrews
English Senior Seminar Student, SUNY Fredonia
Introduction:
This collection of poems is based on the theme of animals being portrayed as characters,
instead of simply being used as basic metaphors for human troubles. Each of these poems uses at
least one animal as their own being, having some form of autonomy, and having their own
desires and characteristics.
While reading or listening to these poems, consider how each animal is given autonomy
in the poems. How are they free, and how are they trapped? Why do we connect with animal
characters? Are animal characters simply to reflect human characteristics or something more?
Suggested Audience: Teens to Adults
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“Elegy for a Dead Labrador” by Lars Gustafsson
https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/elegy-dead-labrador
Born in 1936 and having died only last year, Lars Gustafsson remains one of Sweden’s
most translated contemporary poets. In 1962 he published his first collection of poems
Ballongfararna. ​His poems are considered philosphical in nature and almost “mathematical.”
“Elegy for a Dead Labrador” is a reflection from the poem’s narrator on his pet labrador
retriever after his passing. This poem is extremely emotional, keeping a melancholy tone
throughout even in the moments where happy memories are expressed.
How does enjambment (the separation of thoughts between lines) work in this poem? Does it
show a cutoff between this person and his best friend?
How is the dog personified and characterized in this poem? Does the human speaker see them as
equals or as master and dog?
There is a tension between the tone of the poem’s content and some of the word choices used by
Gustafsson. Words like “munching” and images like “pancake frying” go against the sad tone of
the poem. Why might Gustafsson have chosen these images?
“The Eagle” by Lord Alfred Tennyson
https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/eagle
Born in 1809, Lord Alfred Tennyson wrote a six thousand word epic poem at the age of
twelve. By his forties, he was considered one of the most popular poets of the Victorian era,
exceeding ten thousand pounds pay in royalties at times.
This short poem is simplicity at its finest. Tennyson uses one image of an eagle in the
sky, against the sea and the mountains to express the majestic nature of an eagle taking flight.
This poem is just one image, over several lines. Does the poem need to be longer, or is it
effective as is?
Does this poem show us how nature is, or how we perceive nature?
“How Doth the Little Busy Bee” by Isaac Watts
https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/how-doth-little-busy-bee
More famous for his works as a pastor, writing hymnals, Isaac Watts published vast
amounts of work, including but not limited to sermons, hymns, psalms, and some poems. Watts
studied under the Rev. Thomas Rowe, eventually becoming one of the premier hymnal writers of
the 18th century.
In this children’s poem, Watts uses the bee as both a character and as an example to the
readers of how productivity is a virtue. This poem was also featured in the Disney film “Alice in
Wonderland.’
How does the bee serve as a character? How does the bee serve as a metaphor?
Between the second and third stanzas, there is a severe shift in the poem’s content. How does
this sudden change in content guide the reader to the moral of the poem?
“The Parakeets” by Alberto Blanco
https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/parakeets
Born in 1951, Alberto Blanco is often considered one of the most important poets to
come out of Mexico. He has received praise and grants for several of his works, and continues
writing to this day.
“The Parakeets,” like the previous poem works to both express the parakeets as
characters and as a metaphor for humanity. Blanco uses imagery to express the beauty of the
birds, and reflects on how similar the parakeets are to people.
Blanco very clearly states that the parakeets are like people. What does he mean by this?
Is this speaking to the connection that humans have to animals, or is he just making a simple
comparison?
“Epitaph to a Dog” by George Gordon Byron
https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/epitaph-dog
Born in London, 1788, Lord Byron is one of the most famous poets of the romantic era.
He first published a poetry collection in 1806, after being placed in quite a bit of debt due to his
studies at Trinity College.
In “Epitaph to a Dog” Byron utilizes an epitaph to an unknown dog to create a poem
imagining this dog’s life, and the effect the dog may have had on his companions. He imagines a
loyal, perfect dog that was greater than his master in every conceivable way.
Does this poem romanticize the idea of the dog? Does the dog earn his place on the pedestal that
Byron places him on?
Do we romanticize dogs and other animals as a culture?
Would this poem have been written about another animal, or are dogs special?
Discussion Questions for this collection.
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1. How does each poem embrace animals as characters?
2. Compare the characterization of the animals between poems.
3. What common threads are between these poems apart from just being about animals?
4. Compare the tone of these poems? Are they happy? Reflective? Angry?
5. Why might people be drawn to writing and reading poems about animals?
6. What do these poems say about our views on animals? What do they say about how we
relate to animals?
7. Compare how the dogs from “Epitaph of a Dog” and “Elegy for a Dead Labrador” are
characterized. Are they both romanticized? Does one dog seem more real than the other?
8. These poems are varied in the times that they were written in. Has our view of animals
changed over the last three hundred years, or have we remained the same?
9. Is there a difference between how poets talk about dogs and how they talk about other
animals? Are dogs special? Are the birds, and the bee considered as valid in the world as
the dogs?
10. Are these animals used simply to express human characteristics or are they meant to be
their own beings?
11. Are these poems really about people? Do the poems just use animals as a way to reflect
on human beings, or are they really to reflect on animal nature?