Human, Animal And Nature

This thesis is a study of the Anti-Rationalist tradition in English poetry that regards the wild animal as an admirable force and the wild power as an indispensable part in human nature. The thesis traces the development of the tradition from William Blake to D. H. Lawrence in the context of the changing representations of animals from the late eighteenth century to the first half of the twentieth century. A key part of the thesis is devoted to a close reading of selected animal poems by Blake and Lawrence. Based on a careful and in-depth analysis of the themes and styles of the poems, the central argument of the thesis focuses on the human-animal relationships in Anti-Rationalist tradition, which is against the moral view in Judeo-Christian tradition. In addition, it is argued that the core of the Anti-Rationalist tradition lies not only in its admiration of the instinctive energy of wild animals, but also in the awareness of the need to have both animal impulses and so-called human Reason work together in balance in order to be a complete human.