The rich and assorted cadences of some of the most distinguished poets across the centuries ring out from these pages–from Spenser, Shakespeare, and Pope to Merrill, Merwin, and Muldoon–celebrating pooches of every pedigree and persuasion. Here is Margaret Cavendish’s barking chorus of beagles on the hunt; Elizabeth Bishop’s “Pink Dog” alongside Robyn Selman’s “My Dog is Named for Elizabeth Bishop”; Charles Baxter’s villanelle “Dog Kibble,” whose dog-narrator decides that “Life isn’t meaningless because there’s food”; and the desultory charms of Jane Kenyon’s unleashed dog, nuzzling about on a drizzly afternoon.
From lazy dogs curled up by the fireplace to audacious hounds howling at the moon, from mutts to purebreds, puppies to old dogs, Doggerel is an irresistible gathering of fast and faithful friends.
| Foreword | 13 | |
| An Introduction to Dogs | 19 | |
| The Power of the Dog | 21 | |
| The DOG | 23 | |
| Understanding | 24 | |
| The Best Friend | 25 | |
| Argus | 26 | |
| Tray, the Exemplar | 27 | |
| Verse for a Certain Dog | 28 | |
| Your Face on the Dog's Neck | 29 | |
| Dog-God | 33 | |
| Man and Dog | 35 | |
| Growing Dark | 36 | |
| Custodian | 38 | |
| My Comforter | 40 | |
| Fidelity of the Dog | 41 | |
| To Flush, My Dog | 44 | |
| His Apologies | 51 | |
| How It Began | 54 | |
| From The Chase | 55 | |
| Drink, Puppy, Drink | 58 | |
| The Hound of Ulster | 60 | |
| Dog Days | 61 | |
| Dogs and Weather | 65 | |
| The Dog Parade | 66 | |
| Advice to a Dog Painter | 67 | |
| The Irish Greyhound | 68 | |
| Hamish: A Scots Terrier | 70 | |
| My Brindle Bull-Terrier | 72 | |
| The Dog and the Water-Lily | 74 | |
| To a Black Greyhound | 76 | |
| Sheepdog Trials in Hyde Park | 78 | |
| The Dachshund | 81 | |
| The Dog of St. Bernard's | 82 | |
| To a Pomeranian Puppy Valued at 2500 Dollars | 85 | |
| My Father's Irish Setters | 87 | |
| The Properties of a Good Greyhound | 90 | |
| Barry, the St. Bernard | 91 | |
| The Hairy Dog | 92 | |
| O Pug! | 93 | |
| Compendium Dachshundium | 95 | |
| Panegyric for Gee | 97 | |
| In Praise of the Basset Hound | 99 | |
| Beagles | 101 | |
| After an Illness, Walking the Dog | 105 | |
| The Woodman's Dog | 107 | |
| Dogs in the Park | 108 | |
| My Dog is Named for Elizabeth Bishop | 109 | |
| Saturday, 8:58 a.m | 110 | |
| Walking the Dog | 111 | |
| A Dog Sleeping On My Feet | 115 | |
| Dan | 117 | |
| The Paw | 118 | |
| Dog Dreaming | 121 | |
| As She Goes | 122 | |
| Barking Does in the Snow | 125 | |
| O Happy Dogs of England | 126 | |
| The Rape of Chanticleer | 127 | |
| Theseus and Hippolyta (from A Midsummer Night's Dream) | 128 | |
| Dog at Night | 130 | |
| The Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles, and the Intervention of the Great Rumpuscat | 131 | |
| A Friendly Welcome | 134 | |
| On a Spaniel Called Beau | 137 | |
| Bull-Baiting | 138 | |
| Shepheard's Dogge | 139 | |
| The Fawning Whelp | 141 | |
| Small Poem About the Hounds and the Hares | 142 | |
| Incident | 143 | |
| The Hunting of the Hare | 145 | |
| Apres la Politique, la Haine des Bourbons | 149 | |
| Launce's Dog, Crab: from The Two Gentlemen of Verona | 150 | |
| Full of the Moon | 152 | |
| Dog | 153 | |
| Pink Dog | 156 | |
| Dog Prospectus | 158 | |
| Hope | 161 | |
| Eating Poetry | 162 | |
| Two Dogs | 163 | |
| The Unruly Thoughts of the Dog Trainer's Lover | 164 | |
| Dog | 166 | |
| The Toy Bone | 170 | |
| Scroppo's Dog | 172 | |
| Lone Dog | 175 | |
| What the Dog Perhaps Hears | 176 | |
| Dog | 178 | |
| Power Source | 179 | |
| The Song of the Mischievous Dog | 180 | |
| Confession of a Glutton | 183 | |
| A Popular Personage at Home | 185 | |
| On the Collar of Tiger | 187 | |
| Engraved on the Collar of a Dog, Which I Gave to His Royal Highness | 188 | |
| Mommy | 189 | |
| Contentment | 191 | |
| Yoko | 193 | |
| The Bloodhound Speaks | 196 | |
| A Dog's Eye View | 197 | |
| The Promotion | 198 | |
| Homer's Seeing-Eye Dog | 200 | |
| Dog Kibble: A Villanelle | 202 | |
| The House Dog's Grave | 203 | |
| Oriane | 205 | |
| The Sadness of Puppies | 206 | |
| Birch | 207 | |
| Epitaph to a Dog | 211 | |
| Kaiser Dead | 213 | |
| Geist's Grave | 215 | |
| Upon His Spaniel, Tracie | 219 | |
| Epitaph on Fop | 220 | |
| Dead Dog | 221 | |
| Talking to Dogs | 222 | |
| Exemplary Nick | 225 | |
| Ruby | 226 | |
| On the Death of a Favourite Old Spaniel | 228 | |
| The Pardon | 229 | |
| Ali | 231 | |
| Lament for Toby, a French Poodle | 234 | |
| My Boyhood Dog | 236 | |
| To the Dog Belvoir | 237 | |
| Acknowledgments | 239 | |
| Index of Authors | 249 |
Overview
The rich and assorted cadences of some of the most distinguished poets across the centuries ring out from these pages–from Spenser, Shakespeare, and Pope to Merrill, Merwin, and Muldoon–celebrating pooches of every pedigree and persuasion. Here is Margaret Cavendish’s barking chorus of ...