James Dickey’s “The Heaven of Animals” was a very interesting poem that caught my attention once it was reviewed in class. I did not think this poem was as appealing when I read it on my own, but once we had a class discussion and dissected each stanza of the poem, I have a better respect for Dickey’s writing. Along with the rest of Dickey’s poetry, the title, “The Heaven of Animals” was self explanatory as to what the poem was going to be about. The first line of the poem states “Here they are. The soft eyes open.” This was a very visual poem right from the start, and the first thing I thought of was that this was the start of the after life for the animals. When I envisioned the soft eyes opening I thought of the picture of when a new born baby animal is born and their eyes open, and I feel that birth and “after life” are very similar. Even when it comes to infants and very old people, I think it is the start of a new life for an infant and the restart of life for older people. “The soft eyes opening” was symbolic to this vision, to me, and the way the animals are described is that they are in their natural habitats, comfortable. When animals as well as humans die, it is said that right before they die they are at peace with themselves and are content with everything that they have. Continuing with the theme of visioning the afterlife of these animals, Dickey states in the third stanza “To match them, the landscape flowers...” I felt this part of the poem was a statement in addition to the vision of the afterlife because things “resurrect” such as the blossoming of a new flower, symbolizing new life. This was a reoccurring theme I found throughout the poem, where the afterlife was seen in many different aspects, not just in the animals themselves.
I also liked the way in which Dickey made the afterlife for animals seem the same way it is when they are alive on Earth. These ideas made things seem more realistic and that an afterlife for animals really did exist. Another point that I got out of this sixth stanza was that the weaker animals that are hunted in their lives go to heaven as a reward. When an animal is sacrificed whether it is hunted by humans or physically killed by another animal, its “reward” is to go to heaven and continue their lives in the afterlife and be free of danger from everything and from pain. In the last two stanza, Dickey states the idea that all animals grow into themselves in the afterlife and come full circle and at peace with themselves. If only animals could actually read Dickey’s work, I am sure they would have a positive outlook on death and the afterlife, because Dickey makes everything seem so serene.
The tone throughout this entire poem is peaceful. Dickey makes death seem like an acceptable thing that people, as well as animals, should not be scared of. I feel that Dickey uses animals as an example to show humans that they should not be scared of death. Instead of using people, Dickey makes it seem like the poem is not for people, but I analyzed this poem as a way for people to look at death as a positive thing that things will only get better and you should not fear death.
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4 comments:
I think that the birth into the afterlife was an important aspect of Dickey's poem. I thought that it represented a new life. But it took an unfortunate turn. I was really turned off by the killing and the animalistic nature that Dickey describes. I always thought that an animal heaven would be a little more pleasant than Dickey describes.
Kathryn, since you always complain that I never comment on your blogs, here goes. Like you, I was interested in this poem but didn't really feel like I understood it until we discussed it in class. But after discussing it, I was still kind of dissapointed. I get what Dickey is trying to say about animals, but what, if anything, is he saying about the afterlife for us humans? If there are predators and prey in the "Animal Kingdom", are there winners and losers in the human afterlife? He doesn't paint a picture of "the meek shall inherit the Earth" like it says in the Bible, and I found this interesting (bc I don't want to be the meek in this life or the next) but kind of disturbing because it goes against what I was taught by my family and the Church. Satisfied?
I agree with you, I am personally not a poem person, and didn't think I really understood the poems until we read them in class. I think it iS that when we are at home reading them, we just read them all the way through, in class we were breaking them down piece by piece, which I think made all the difference in understanding the poems.
Kathryn,
I like how you analyzed the poem. I think what you said really makes sense—that Dickey used animals and their lives to illustrate to humans how they should live, and ultimately, die. Dickey clearly had a strong connection to animals and nature, and I think he used this to his advantage. He used his interests to create backdrops against which he could subtly stir up a social commentary.
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