The Whiskered Muse

This month the assigned reading for our Creative Writers' Group (which meets this Saturday, 4/14 in the library at Oak Hills Church) was a mini-anthology compiled by this blogger and made up entirely of poems about cats and dogs.

Since handing out the poems, I've come to realize that almost every poet has written at least one poem about their pets. They are a very handy muse. And I'm feeling quite bereft that I haven't one. Now I tell my husband, "I need a dog for my writing."

I like to know as much as I can about the writers I read. I guess it helps me put their creative work in context. So, here is a quick biography on most of the poets we read this month. Almost all this information is taken entirely from "The Writer's Almanac," which I mentioned in my last blog entry.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote, "To Flush, My Dog." "Browning was born March 6 in Durham, England (1806). She fell off a horse as a child, and as a result was an invalid for much of her life. She was doted upon by her father until she was 40 years old, at which time she fell in love with the poet Robert Browning, and secretly married him. Her father never allowed her back into his house, and returned her letters unopened. Her intensely happy 15 years of marriage ended when she died in Browning's arms, in Florence, when she was 55." (W.A.)


"Choosing A Dog" is by William Stafford, who was born January 17, 1914 in Hutchinson, Kansas. He was a Christian who was involved in the early years of what later became the Civil Rights movement and then, as a registered conscientious objector during W.W.II worked at a number of alternative service camps across the country. He had a discipline of writing every morning, and some of his best poems were written during the years of the war. He taught at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon and was one of the country's most respected and prolific poets. The novelist James Dickey said he was a 'born poet,' and that "poetry was the easiest way for him to communicate."

"Dog" is by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, born March 24 in Yonkers, New York (1919). "He wrote A Coney Island of the Mind (1958), the best-selling book of poetry in the country during the sixties and seventies. He also started the only bookstore in the United States ever to become a stop on a tour-bus route -- San Francisco's City Lights Bookstore. He spent World War Two in the U.S. Navy, took part in the Normandy invasion, and arrived in Nagasaki six weeks after the atomic bomb was dropped; he said that was when he became a pacifist. He got a Ph.D. at the Sorbonne on the G.I Bill, then went to San Francisco, where he met the poet Kenneth Rexroth, and started a venture to publish small, inexpensive volumes of poetry. The fourth volume in the series was a long poem by Allen Ginsberg called Howl. A Customs agent seized the book and arrested Ferlinghetti, and he became the focus of one of the biggest obscenity trials in the country. The book was ruled not obscene, a landmark victory for freedom of speech. Ferlinghetti is one of the few poets in the United States who has never held a job at a university, never received government funding, and never won a Pulitzer. He said: 'Like a bowl of roses, a poem should not have to be explained.'" (WA)

Elizabeth Coatsworth wrote that very cunning poem, "On a Night of Snow." If you haven't read it, you should. There's an Elizabeth Coatsworth mentioned in the Writer's Almanac, but that Elizabeth is only referred to as a children's book author, so, I'm not sure if it's the same lady. However, one thing I have observed is that the name Elizabeth appears to be well suited to the writing personae. I would like to tell my parents, "You should have named me Elizabeth, for my writing."

"Sister Cat" is by Frances Mayes. She also wrote that very popular novel, Under the Tuscan Sun, which got made into a movie I haven't seen. So I suppose her cat is eating some delicious Italian pesce for dinner tonight. She's also a professor of creative writing at San Francisco State U.


Christopher Smart wrote the poem fragment about his cat, Jeoffrey. His birthday is April 11, and that's this Wednesday. So, I'm going to post something extra special just for him soon. I think I will launch an all-out crusade to make his birthday another holiday, similar to those for St. Valentines and St. Patrick. I will probably do this with all the enthusiasm and vigor of an earnest slacker.

If you don't have a copy of the poems, let me know and I'll email them to you. How 'bout you read them and tell us which is your favorite and why. Also, let them teach you how to write a poem or a story or just a quick personal essay about a pet you've known. And then, come Saturday and share what you've written with us.

Happy Writing and Happy Easter--

Jenny