When a Priceless Gem Once Again Sees the Light of Day (revised edition)
Book Review
Song of Creation – An Anthology of Poems in Praise of Animals
The Editors ~ Tom Regan and Andrew Linzey
(1988)
I
The occasional declutter usually throws up a gem. Quite unexpectedly. One such gem is a paperback published in 1988 by Marshall Pickering in the United Kingdom entitled Song of Creation – An Anthology of Poems in Praise of Animals. The Editors are Tom Regan (1938-2017) and Andrew Linzey (1952).
What a find!
I’ve grown tired of religion. So, the last thing I expected to be reading at bedtime was scripture. The book’s first entry is Psalm 104 vv 5-30. I have read this Psalm countless times since infancy.
Reading it tonight was a different experience. I was not reading it as scripture, but instead thinking about how we can praise animals.
By so doing, I sidestepped the subliminal requirement that in order to understand what I am reading, that I firstly acknowledge that I am a perpetual sinner, secondly, that I will only understand what I am reading if I have firstly confessed all my sins, and thirdly, that the grace within which I stand can be revoked if steps one and two are not sidestepped.
Last week, I had the privilege of looking after my sister’s three golden retrievers when she and my brother-in-law had to travel south on a long-arranged engagement.
At the last moment, we realised that the eldest of the three, over 14 years (equating to mid-90s) was not in a good place. This very beautiful animal and friend is now at peace, and what a privilege it was to spend the whole weekend looking after her, being with her, and communicating with her. Often with my face on the floor so we both had eye contact. It was quite incredible. What is more, she knew exactly what was going on, and retained her ability to communicate. And the others? Simply outstanding. Both young and full of spirits, they knew things were not quite right, and they brought joy and happiness, and they showed incredible affection to their adopted mum.
As I say, I have read Psalm 104 so many times, I found myself in very, very familiar territory, I knew the verses back to front, and warmed to the beauty of the King James Version, because that is what I learned as an infant in the 1950s. But never had I, until now, even noticed its unequivocal and heartfelt tribute to animals of all kinds.
Never have I seen this psalm from the viewpoint of praising animals.
How on earth did I miss this?
II
My answer to my own question is, simply, that it had been shrouded and therefore hidden by religiosity. In lay language, that “I couldn’t see the wood for the trees.”
The book’s back cover is the best review, so I take the plunge and reproduce it here in direct support of this highly recommended work. And below, I’ve placed the covers so that I give the book and its editors and publishers air.
III
The Back Cover
Song of Creation is a unique anthology of poetry, the only contemporary volume devoted solely to the cause of animals and their humane treatment.
Including over 100 poems, the book spans almost every period of literary expression, and shows vividly how concerned for animals has captured the imagination of the great writers.
From the Psalms to Saint Francis, from Alexander Pope to Adrian Mitchell, 60 writers give “a voice to the voice list”, proclaiming, in Cowper’s words, “the worth of brutes.”
Andrew Linzey is Chaplain and Director of Studies at the Centre for the Study of Theology at the University of Essex.
Tom Vegan is Professor of Theology at the North Carolina State University, USA.
End of the Back Cover Review
IV
I am indebted to the Editors.
Bringing myself up-to-date by visiting the online research facilities, it is pertinent to quote Andrew Linzey when he makes two observations:
“Animals are God’s creatures, not human property, nor utilities, nor resources, nor commodities, but precious beings in God’s sight. ... Christians whose eyes are fixed on the awfulness of crucifixion are in a special position to understand the awfulness of innocent suffering. The Cross of Christ is God’s absolute identification with the weak, the powerless, and the vulnerable, but most of all with unprotected, undefended, innocent suffering.”
“Christians haven’t got much further than thinking that the whole world was made for us, with the result that animals are only seen in an instrumental way as objects, machines, tools, and commodities, rather than fellow creatures,” and it is claimed that he “wants to see animal abusers placed on a register and forbidden from keeping an animal, or working with them.”
V
This is no ordinary anthology. The six-page Introduction by Dr Linzey is hard-hitting. The Editors highlight things that we wish we did not know. But it also serves to remind me of the crucial work undertaken by all who make it their business to rescue animals. My friends who have done this - they know who they are - I simply utter a very heartfelt, thank you.
Biographical References to The Editors
Reverend Andrew Linzey (1952) ~ Wikipedia here
Professor Tom Regan (1938-2017) ~ Wikipedia here
ƒinis
17 August 2024
All Rights Reserved
LIVERPOOL
© 2024 Kenneth Thomas Webb
Digital Artwork by KTW unless otherwise credited
Ken Webb is a writer and proofreader. His website, kennwebb.com, showcases his work as a writer, blogger and podcaster, resting on his successive careers as a police officer, progressing to a junior lawyer in succession and trusts as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives, a retired officer with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, and latterly, for three years, the owner and editor of two lifestyle magazines in Liverpool.
He also just handed over a successful two year chairmanship in Gloucestershire with Cheltenham Regency Probus.
Pandemic aside, he spends his time equally between his city, Liverpool, and the county of his birth, Gloucestershire.
In this fast-paced present age, proof-reading is essential. And this skill also occasionally leads to copy-editing writers’ manuscripts for submission to publishers and also student and post graduate dissertations.
