Abstract
This paper will consider the work of Miroslav Holub (1923-1998), the Czech poet and immunologist, and his writing in English that addresses the problem of freedom for animals. I will argue Holub invokes a radical empathy for animals across the biological spectrum, including microscopic organisms in poems like “Suffering,” where the poet/experimenter imagines the lives of “ugly grunting creatures” under his microscope. In several poems, Holub uses dogs as central figures, such as “A Dog Who Wanted to Return,” a prose poem where a dog escapes from his life as a test subject only to discover he has nowhere to go – an allegory of political freedom. Similarly, “A Dog in the Quarry” depicts a dog trapped on an island in the middle of a lake before being rescued. In later work, Holub meditates on politics and mortality through other animals. “Half a Hedgehog” describes a car accident with a hedgehog and in “Shedding Life,” he describes the final struggles of a muskrat – at the physiological and cellular level – which has been trapped in an empty swimming pool and then shot by a neighbor. Holub’s portrayal of animals in his writings offers a new lens through which to examine this multifaceted, prolific poet, who was included in Penguin’s Modern European Poets series in 1969, and then went on to publish for nearly 40 more years. This paper is informed by a full reading of all of Holub’s published work in English as a part of a sabbatical project.
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