Darwin's Bards: British and American Poetry in the Age of Evolution Paperback - 2013

"Darwin's Bards is a bracing, original and exciting contribution to our understanding and appreciation of the cultural impact of Darwinism; indeed, John Holmes is to be commended for writing an exhilarating and genuinely interdisciplinary study with revealing insights on every page." Roger Ebbatson, The Thomas Hardy Journal "John Holmes's coverage of the relationship between science and poetry is remarkably complete. He has a scientist's grasp of evolutionary theory and a thorough understanding of both the controversies the theory has engendered and the difficulty many have had in finding meaning in an existence framed by Darwinism. Holmes's investigation of how poetry addresses these problems is unique." Douglas Shedd, The Catherine Ehrman Thoresen '23 and William E. Thoresen Professor of Biology, Randolph College Newly available in paperback, 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? 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 and ourselves? 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 and Robert Browning, through Thomas Hardy and Robert Frost, to Ted Hughes, Thom Gunn, Amy Clampitt and Edwin Morgan. Including over fifty poems and substantial extracts from many more, Darwin's Bards gives us the chance to experience for ourselves what it can mean to live in a Darwinian world. John Holmes is Chair of the British Society for Literature and Science and a senior lecturer in the Department of English Literature at the University of Reading.