Here's another crap bird-themed poem ... this time by Willy Wordsworth of " my wife Dorothy gives me all my best ideas" fame. But it's not its crapness that we're going to look at today ... no .. it's #2 in my groundbreaking and iconoclastic quest to sort out, once and for all, a hoard of bird-related puzzles and problems in fictional literature. A few posts ago we had a go at the nasty, viciously xenophobic antics of Pooh and his mates in stealing baby Roo from Kanga in order to force her to leave the wood for good. This exactly mirrors the current situation on the US/Mexican border where desperate incoming families are being separated from their children to force them to leave. But in the Kanga/Roo case "they" do it by distracting Kanga by getting her to turn round for a moment to look at a rather dubious bird... which to this day critics are not quite sure of in terms of species. But in this next bit of fiction I'm going to expose to ferocious critical attack, we're going to have a look at WW's poem, The Stuffed Owl. "While Anna's Peers and Early Playmates Tread " 1827 While Anna's peers and early playmates tread, In freedom, mountain-turf and river's marge; Or float with music in the festal barge; Rein the proud steed, or through the dance are led; Her doom it is to press a weary bed-- Till oft her guardian Angel, to some charge More urgent called, will stretch his wings at large, And friends too rarely prop the languid head. Yet, helped by Genius--untired comforter, The presence even of a stuffed Owl for her Can cheat the time; sending her fancy out To ivied castles and to moonlight skies, Though he can neither stir a plume, nor shout; Nor veil, with restless film, his staring eyes. Now what's the big, big elephant in the room with this "poem" .. ? Yes, you've got it. It's obvious..... Which bloody sort of sodding owl was it ??? You won't be surprised to hear that over the years a whole array of critics and analysts have written numerous papers, articles, diatribes etc on this very topic, as well as PhD theses and beyond. Key theorists like Frederick C. Crews, Hayview Gottaburger , Hal Fuseless, Freda Cagebird and Roda Carthorse have all crashed and burned in the fierce heat of this crucial question. Much of this has centred two main themes.... [a] The numerous symbolic attributes of the various species of owls... you only have to reference "The Owl Service" to see one tiny facet of this massive diaspora of possibilities. This rather duff sonnet must surely have more to it than meets the eye ... and that might well lie buried within the symbolic and turbulent hinterland "behind" the "Stuffed Owl." As well as the obvious "owl symbolism" in the Mabinogion, from which Alan Garner took his inspiration, there are numerous owl-based stories, myths and subsequent symbolic attributes for owls all over Europe ..and beyond. Some have pursued the many and various owl references in the numerous European bibles .... with surprising results which are too voluminous to list here. [b] The second channel of enquiry has centred around a more practical approach ... their line has been " which types of owls tended to be stuffed and put in glass cases in Wordsworth's time ? " And which species tended to turn up in the houses of the various tiers of society in the early 1800's. This has involved trawling through thousands of sources and also the scouring of photographs of the interiors of houses of all types, plus letters, other literary works, and the hunting diaries and records of the shooters and, of course the stuffers. Some cynical world-weary types would say it's just an excuse to get free entrance + tea and cakes to loads of said properties for years on end. Who gives a flying fart which sort of owl it was ? I hope you, dear reader, are not one of those dreary nay-sayers ... no no no ! So... knowing that you will want to read the key papers, the "Famous Four are listed here for any of my readers who might wish to consult them..... Kupp, Arthur T. Owl symbolism in the poetry of Wordsworth, a working index for researchers. Transactions of the National Symbolist Movement,Avian Division, August 1972 Witz, Alf. On Wordworth's "Stuffed Owl" and its numerous and mendacious critics, including a critique of all current theories. The Hoffstadt Journal of non-trivial Avian peregrinations 2003 vol 7 pp 88-746. Freda Cagebird. Wordsworth's enigmatic owl ! A seismic synergy in the Mabinogion-athon. Llwybr Llaethog, Bethesda, 2001. Frederick C. Crews Postmodern Pooh. A digest of modern Pooh studies. Profile Books, London. Includes numerous references to Milnes' "Wol", a truly semiotic Strigiformation of Owl-related Symbolisms and Semiotics , in the wider context of fictional Wildlife. Klapptrapp, T and Sbwriel, A Twenty ways to interpret the "literary owl" for the diligent sophomore and beyond. The Wisconsin Journal of World Literature 1157 to the Present Day. A. Carthorse, Iva Thea Rye and Kingsley Aimless A complete survey of the Owl Kingdom in mythology and fact. Frederick C. Crews, Seamore Birdbaths and Arthur Sixpence. The Owl and the Pushy Cat went to See: the only book you need to read for sophomore Eng.Lit. Trumpton Publications, Noddyland, USA. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OK readers, you've got the complete kit now. Thanks to ME ! But now ... Wise Owl Jupiter Jones and the lovely " Still"
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AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
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