Darwin's bards : British and American poetry in the age of evolution

Darwin's Bards is the first comprehensive study of how poets have responded to the ideas of Charles Darwin in over fifty years. John Holmes argues that poetry can have a profound impact on how we think and feel about the Darwinian condition. Is a Darwinian universe necessarily a godless one? If not, what might Darwinism tell us about the nature of God? Is Darwinism compatible with immortality, and if not, how can we face our own deaths or the loss of those we love? What is our own place in the Darwinian universe, and our ecological role here on earth? How does our kinship with other animals affect how we see them? How does the fact that we are animals ourselves alter how we think about our own desires, love and sexual morality? All told, is life in a Darwinian universe grounds for celebration or despair? Holmes explores the ways in which some of the most perceptive and powerful British and American poets of the last hundred-and-fifty years have grappled with these questions, from Alfred Tennyson, Robert Browning and Thomas Hardy, through Robert Frost and Edna St Vincent Millay, to Ted Hughes, Thom Gunn, Amy Clampitt and Edwin Morgan. Reading their poetry, we too can experience what it can mean to live in a Darwinian world. Written in an accessible and engaging style, and aimed at scientists, theologians, philosophers and ecologists as well as poets, critics and students of literature, Darwin's Bards is a timely intervention into the heated debates over Darwin's legacy for religion, ecology and the arts.

Is a Darwinian universe necessarily a godless one? What might Darwinism tell us about the nature of God? Is Darwinism compatible with immortality, and if not, how can we face death or the loss of those we love? Darwin's Bards is the first comprehensive study in more than fifty years to examine how poets have responded to the ideas of Darwin. John Holmes argues that poetry can have a profound impact on how we think and feel about the Darwinian condition. What is our own place in the Darwinian universe, and our ecological role here on earth? How does our kinship with other animals affect how we see them? How does the fact that we are animals ourselves alter how we think about our own desires, love, and sexual morality? All told, is life in a Darwinian universe grounds for celebration or despair? Holmes explores the ways in which some of the most perceptive and powerful British and American poets of the last hundred and fifty years have grappled with these questions, from Alfred Tennyson, Robert Browning, and Thomas Hardy to Robert Frost and Edna St. Vincent Millay, and from Ted Hughes and Thom Gunn to Amy Clampitt and Edwin Morgan.

Edinburgh University Press

"Darwin's Bards is the first comprehensive study of how poets have responded to the ideas of Charles Darwin in over fifty years. John Holmes argues that poetry can have a profound impact on how we think and feel about the Darwinian condition." "Holmes explores the ways in which some of the most perceptive and powerful British and American poets of the last hundred-and-fifty years have grappled with these questions, from Alfred Tennyson, Robert Browning and Thomas Hardy, through Robert Frost and Edna St Vincent Millay, to Ted Hughes, Thom Gunn, Amy Clampitt and Edwin Morgan. Reading their poetry, we too can experience what it can mean to live in a Darwinian world."--Jacket Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgements......Page 8 Preface......Page 11 1 Poetry in the Age of Darwin......Page 16 2 Poetry and the ‘Non-Darwinian Revolution’......Page 52 3 God......Page 90 4 Death......Page 117 5 Humanity’s Place in Nature......Page 145 6 Humans and Other Animals......Page 169 7 Love and Sex......Page 200 8 On Balance......Page 241 Conclusion......Page 275 Bibliography......Page 278 Index......Page 298