W. H. Auden
Talking to Dogs
From the archive, the following poem ‘Talking to Dogs’ by W.H. Auden was published in the April/May 1971 of The London Magazine, edited by Alan Ross. W. H. Auden was a celebrated British-American poet, as well as a left-wing political writer. Auden was also a prolific writer of prose essays and reviews, and wrote many forms of performance art.
In memoriam Rolfi Strobl, run over 9 June 1970
…..From us, of course, you want gristly bones
and to be led through exciting odourscapes-
…..their colours don’t matter- with the chance
of a rabbit to chase or of meeting
…..a fellow arse-hole to nuzzle at,
but your deepest fury is to be accepted
…..as junior members of a salon
suaver in taste and manners than a pack,
…..to be scratched on the belly and talked to.
Probably you only hear vowels and then only if
…..uttered with lyrical emphasis,
so we cannot tell you a story, even
…..when it is true, nor drily dissect
in the third person neighbours who are not there
…..or things that can’t blush. And what do we,
those of us who are householders, not shepherds
…..or killers or polar explorers,
want from you? The admiration of creatures
…..to whom mirrors mean nothing, who never
false your expression and so remind us
…..that we as well are still social retards
who have never learned to command our feelings
…..and don’t want to, really. Some great men,
Goethe and Lear, for instance, have disliked you,
…..which seems eccentric, but good people,
if they keep one, have good dogs (the reverse
…..is not so, for some very bad hats
handle you very well): it’s those who crave
…..a querulous permanent baby
or a little detachable penis,
…..who can, and often do, debase you.
Humour and joy to your thinking are one,
…..so that you laugh with your whole body,
and nothing dismays you more than the noise
…..of our local superior titters.
(But then our young males are dismayed by vours
…..to whom, except when a bitch is air-borne,
chastity seems to present no problem.)
…..Being quicker to sense unhappiness
without having to be told the dreary
…..details or who is to blame, in dark hours
your silence may be of more help than many
…..two-legged comforters. Among citizens
obedience is not always a virtue,
…..but yours need not make us uneasy
because, though child-like, you are complete, no New
…..Generation whom it’s our duty
to disappoint since, until they notice
…..our failings, they will never bother
to make their own mistakes.
Let difference
…..remain our bond, yes, and the one trait
…..both have in common, a sense of theatre.
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