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Afternoon With Irish

Cows
Billy Collins (1941-)

Noisy Cow at Jurby © Culture Vannin Flickr

 The Poem RS Overview

There were a few dozen who occupied the !eld 12 The poetic voice contemplates the existence of the
across the road from where we lived, 8 seemingly mundane and boring herd of cows that
stepping all day from tuft to tuft, 8 occupy the field across from his home. Despite
their big heads down in the soft grass, 8 their seeming simplicity, he cannot quite shake
though I would sometimes pass a window 9 the feeling that they are more mysterious and
and look out to see the !eld suddenly empty 12 profound than they seem.
as if they had taken wing, "own o# to another 15
country. The ponderance is interrupted by a particularly
11
powerful mooing that causes the poetic voice to
Then later, I would open the blue front door, 12
investigate. Although the noise is so deep and
and again the !eld would be full of their munching, 7
powerful it suggests severe pain, we recognise that
or they would be lying down 9
his noise is simply the cow celebrating being a cow
on the black-and-white maps of their sides, 11
and its own existence.
facing in all directions, waiting for rain. 12
How mysterious, how patient and dumbfounded 13
What was previously depicted as a simplistic
they appeared in the long quiet of the afternoons.
existence is recognised as being a wonderful
10
existence in the rich beauty of the landscape. As
But every once in a while, one of them 10
the poetic voice realises this, the cow turns its eye
would let out a sound so phenomenal 8
that I would put down the paper 11 on the poetic voice as if it is now time for the cow

or the knife I was cutting an apple with 10 to analyse and judge the purpose of his existence.

and walk across the road to the stone wall 10

to see which one of them was being torched 9 Mini Glossary

or pierced through the side with a long spear. dumbfounded – astonished or made speechless;
11 unadulterated – pure;
Yes, it sounded like pain until I could see 10 cowness – the quality of being a cow
the noisy one, anchored there on all fours, 9
her neck outstretched, her bellowing head 9
laboring upward as she gave voice 8
to the rising, full-bodied cry 11
that began in the darkness of her belly 11
and echoed up through her bowed ribs into her 3
gaping mouth.
11
Then I knew that she was only announcing 13
the large, unadulterated cowness of herself, 14
pouring out the ancient apologia of her kind 9
to all the green !elds and the gray clouds, 13
to the limestone hills and the inlet of the blue bay, 10
while she regarded my head and shoulders 10
above the wall with one wild, shocking eye.

Analysis
Context I’d never had the pleasure of reading any Billy Collins before researching this
poem, but I am now a fan.

One of the most popular poets in the US, his poetry is marked for a conversational
style and witty observations of the world around him. However, don’t be deceived
into thinking this poem is just about cows, there is always a level of depth in his
work.

This particular poem was published in 1998 as part of the collection ‘Picnic,
Lightning’. The Irish element on the title perhaps connects with his Irish heritage
and may have been inspired by trips to Ireland as he has presented a number of
poetry workshops in the country.

Of more significance is the history of Irish cattle. Kerry cattle are believed to be
descendants of Celtic shorthorn cows who were first brought to Ireland around
2,000BC. They are considered to be one of the oldest breeds of cattle in the world
and there are many hints in the poem that these cows have some sort of ancient
knowledge or understanding that reflects this heritage.

If you are interested in hearing Collins’ style of poetry, check out the video below.
All the poems shared in it and humorous and thought-provoking. I’ll be stealing the
final one for when my children are teenagers.

Billy Collins: Everyday moments, caught in time

Themes The most obvious theme here is the pastoral beauty of the countryside enjoyed by
the cows. The simplicity of the poem’s narrative, the cows’ existence and the rural
landscape are painted in a manner that makes them seem relaxing, peaceful and
beautiful.

Alongside this we are challenged to reflect on the meaning of existence, in the first
instance through the consideration of the mundane lives of the cows and then with
the mirror turned around to inspect our own.
Content In the opening stanza, Collins describes a field filled with cows doing what they do
– eating grass and wandering around. He ends it with a sense of mystery as he
imagines that at times when he cannot see them that they have flown away.

The cows have eaten their fill of grass and lie down without really doing anything.
Now Collins pictures them as some sort of great philosophers, imagining this rest
as some sort of profound reflection or meditation.

The mundane life of cows is occasionally interrupted by a powerful moo that

interrupts the poetic voice in whatever he is doing. Although it sounds like the cow
must be in pain, the reality is that it is just being noisy. We get a description of the
cow putting the whole of its body into this moo that seems to be purely for the
purpose of announcing that it is a cow.

However, in the final stanza, Collins interprets this moo as a defence of the state of
existence for these cows. While the poetic voice seems to question the point of
being a cow in describing their limited activity, this moo serves to highlight all the
good things the cow has got going: a peaceful existence amongst the vivid beauty
of nature,

We end with the cow’s eye being cast upon the poetic voice in a way that seems to
turn the reflection process around and get us to think about the value or meaning
in his/our existence.

Language The title of this poem is somewhat deceiving. On !rst read, you see it as a merely
descriptive title that re"ects the focus of the poem, but on closer look there is quite a

and lot suggested by the phrasing.

Techniqu It almost sounds like an entry someone would make into their calendar: ‘Afternoon with

es Irish Cows’. The preposition (‘with’) conveys a sense of companionship and makes this
sound like a date or a meeting. The cows are not just cows, but ‘Irish Cows’ and this
implies they are in some way special. I mentioned above the history of Kerry cattle and I
think Collins deliberately plays upon their ancient heritage in order to help develop this
sense of the cows as having a deeper meaning and existence than we might naturally
perceive.

The poem begins with imagery of the cow’s grazing in their !eld. They are ‘stepping all
day from tuft to tuft’, which suggest a monotonous and repetitive existence of moving
from one patch of grass to the next. This sense is furthered when they lie down for the
‘long quiet of the afternoons’, implying their lives are very mundane and uninteresting.
Added to this, their ‘big heads down in the soft grass’ and their ‘munching’ combine to
make them sound like very simple and almost thoughtless creatures. While this might
not seem particularly complimentary to the cows, notice how calm this imagery is –
repetitive movement, relaxation, soft grass, quiet.

This initial perception of the cows, I would say, is quite traditional – great, dumb beasts.
However, the poetic voice never seems to accept this. He !nds a mystery in the cows
before he realises what it is at the end of the poem. As he glances out of a window and
doesn’t see the cows, we have this hyperbolic and humorous thought of their having
‘taken wing’ and ‘"own o# to another country’. Rather than explain the completely
explainable disappearance, this wanton fancy suggests the cows actually have more
about them and could at any minute make the decision to move on or make a change
about their existence. Even the phrase ‘suddenly empty’ to describe their absence from
view gives the cows a sense of mystery and glamour.

Similarly, when the cows lie down and seem to stare into space, this simplicity is not
accepted. They are depicted as some sort of philosophers, as if they are meditating –
‘How mysterious, how patient’. Again this is recognising or inventing some secret
profound element to their existence. Collins juxtaposes these ideas by also describing
them as ‘dumbfounded’. The word can mean either amazed or made speechless. The
inclusion of the word ‘dumb’ suggests some recognition that their staring into space
could be recognised as such, rather than in the profound terms prior to it.

Collins also describes the cows’ hides as ‘black-and-white maps’. This metaphor
depicts their mottled skin, but the comparison suggests again a sense of deeper
mystery and history. In the opening stanza Collins referred to the cows "ying to
di#erent countries and again here we have the suggestion of travel. This is by no means
meant to suggest that the cows really are some sort of secret, super cows travelling
around the world !ghting crime, but it does hint at their heritage and simply having
maps suggests one has travelled and explored. I will come back to this idea later as it
ties in at the end.

In contrast to the mundane opening description, the third stanza explores the
‘phenomenal’ sound emitted occasionally. Collins is juxtaposing the dull with the
extraordinary as he continues to search for some special quality in the cows. He
furthers this description with the hyperbolic comparison to something ‘being torched or
pierced… with a long spear’. This serves to emphasise not only how loud this is, but also
to eggrandize the cows further as they are capable of making this powerful noise for
seemingly not reason – without being skewered.

The fourth stanza distances us from the image of the cow as a dumb beast living for
our consumption and the imagery presents the cow as a remarkable and powerful
animal. She is ‘anchored’ to her spot, with her body fully committed (neck, head, belly,
ribs, mouth) and utilised to create this almighty sound. This is literally a ‘full-bodied cry’
and she is giving it all she has and the message and sound comes from ‘the darkness
of her belly’ suggesting it has come from deep down inside her, like an expression of
her soul.

Upon rushing to see why the cow was making this sound, the poetic voice recognises
this is simply a celebration of her ‘unadulterated cowness’. This phrase, while
humorous, suggests a deeper meaning and existence once more. She is celebrating
her existence and thus demonstrating pride, in defence of our possible re"ection earlier
on that would suggest the life of a cow is pretty boring, uninteresting and unimportant.
This is metaphorically declared to be an ‘ancient apologia’ or formal defence of the life
of cows. Again this positions the cows as an old and philosophical creature with a
heritage that has led them to their current state of existence. This ancient heritage also
seems to be re"ected as the moo ‘echoed’ through the cow and thus seems to re"ect
the voices of her ancestors (sometimes I have to remind myself I am analysing a poem
about cows!).

Collins summarises the cow’s defence of all things cow by connecting it to her
surroundings. Her moo reaches out to ‘the green !elds’, ‘the gray clouds’, ‘the limestone
hills’ and ‘the inlet of the blue bay’. This creates a simplistic pastoral image of a
beautiful, rugged rural landscape. The simplicity of the imagery re"ects the simplicity
of the cows’ life, but is no less beautiful for it. In this defence there is a strong sense that
the cows have chosen their existence and are proud of it, despite it appearing
mundane. Those maps on their hides re"ect the journey they have taken to reach this
point, but they are now content with their lot.

The !nal lines really open the poem up. Once the defence is uttered the cow ‘regarded’
the poetic voice and thus dismisses any suggestion of simple-mindedness as the
tables are turned and she passes judgement and analyses the poetic voice in turn.
Here, her ‘wild’ eye stands in contradiction to the notion of the cow being a
domesticated animal, tamed beyond freewill and thought. Her eye is also ‘shocking’,
 but this does not refer to appearance, rather to its impact on the poetic voice as the eye
asks the question of him – he now needs to justify his existence.

Interestingly we can already pass judgement on the poetic voice, although the poem
ends. The cow is described as walking around, eating, lying down and then mooing.
Our poetic voice sometimes ‘pass[es] a window’, ‘put[s] down the paper’ or puts down
‘the knife I was cutting an apple with’. His rural existence is very much the same as the
cows, with no great meaning or excitement or justi!cation of his purpose on the earth.
Only the power to contemplate existence seems to put him at odds with the cow and
the ending of the poem turns this on its head. The poetic voice not only lives ‘across the
road’ from the cows literally, but also metaphorically their existence is basically the
same.

Aside from the title, Collins never speci!cally tells us that he is observing cows. You
could probably make an argument that this re"ects that the poem is not really about
cows at all, but rather this whole poem acts as a metaphor to allow us to explore the
di#erence between rural simplicity (represented by the cows) and urban existence
(represented by the poetic voice in his house). This might be going too far though. I’ll
leave you to be the !nal judge.

Structure The poem is written in free verse, with the conversational tone that Collins’
regularly uses. Each of the five stanzas, contains seven lines, but one complete
idea. This causes the reader/audience to contemplate each stanza as a whole and
this allows the contradictory impressions, of the cows as being at once stupid and
profound, to feel like the poetic voice’s inability to make his mind up or come to a
final conclusion about them.

Tone For the majority of this poem we have a tone of idle contemplation over something
that seems almost insignificant. However, there is a noticeable shift in the final
two stanzas where the cow is recognised as being a proud creature and the tone
lifts to a feeling of being inspired and then finally there is a note of caution and
worry as the reflection is turned upon the poetic voice.

! "

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