Figure of the Animal in Modern and Contemporary Poetry

Michael Malay is Lecturer in English Literature and Environmental Humanities at the University of Bristol, UK.

• 1 Why Look at Animals?: Poetry and the Difficulty of Reality.-2 The Homely and the Wild in Marianne Moore and Elizabeth Bishop.-3 Rhythmic Contact: Ted Hughes and Animal Life.-4 Presence and the Mystery of Embodiment: Les Murray’s Translations from the Natural World.-5 Poetry’s Electric Being Works Cited Index

“Malay’s use of metaphor and simile is often a subtle and intelligent response to the challenge of maintaining loyalty to poetics, of not reducing it to ‘two-mindedness’, or worse. These scrupulous close readings sit alongside a wide range of references—from Henry David Thoreau to Max Weber—that draw them into a wider debate.” (Danny O’Connor, The Review of English Studies, May 29, 2019)