Afternoon With Irish Cows Literary Elements

The poem is in first-person perspective and haw an unnamed speaker who is appreciating the cows on the field.

The poem is made up of five septets with no strict poetic form. It is written in free verse with no metrical pattern.

Simile:
"as if they had taken wing, flown off to another country" (Line 7): this simile uses the word "as" to compare the disappearing cows to birds that have flown away from the field to another country, emphasizing the speaker's surprise at walking by the window and seeing the cows suddenly vanished.

Metaphor:
"black-and-white maps of their sides" (Line 11): The speaker compares the cow's black-and-white spotted sides to a map without using "like" or "as." This metaphor artistically illustrates the cow's spotted black-and-white patterns and emphasizes the cow's connection to the natural world.

Alliteration:
"where we lived" (Line 2)
Repetition of "w" sounds

"sound so phenomenal" (Line 16)
Repetition of "s" sounds

"through the side with a long spear" (Line 21)
Repetition of "s" sounds

“to all the green fields and the gray clouds” (Line 32)
Repetition of "g" sounds

Assonance:
“and walk across the road to the stone wall” (Line 19)
Repetition of "al" sounds (walk/wall)

"ancient apologia" (Line 31)
Repetition of "a" sounds

With the presence of cows, mooing should be frequently heard, yet the speaker is surprised and confused by the sound of a cow bellowing.

The speaker believes that the cow is pain, but it is actually content and is simply announcing itself.

The cows, which are slow mammals, are ironically compared to birds that take flight in the wind.

pastoral poetry, contemporary poetry

The poem is set in a rural area, with a green field where dozens of cows live, and a nearby structure, likely a country cottage, where the speaker resides. There is also a country road and a stone wall that borders the cow's pasture. The field is further surrounded by limestone hills and an inlet of water.

Humorous, appreciative, and introspective

The protagonist of the poem is the cows. The antagonist is the speaker’s fleeting imaginations of the cows flying away or being tormented.

The speaker is fascinated by the cows’ mannerisms and yearns to decipher the meaning behind every aspect of their behavior.

The climax occurs when the speaker realizes that the noisy cow is not in pain, nor has it been stabbed, but is simply announcing its pure cowness and state of being to the natural environment.

The speaker foreshadows the cow breaking the silence by bellowing through mentioning the quiet afternoon earlier on.

N/A

The poem alludes to the unproven theory that cows lie down when it is about to rain through the lines “on the black-and-white maps of their sides, / facing in all directions, waiting for rain” (Line 11).

The reference to the cow's cry beginning in the "darkness of her belly" and moving through her "bowed ribs" to enter the outside world may allude to the Biblical story of Jonah being swallowed by a whale (Lines 26-28).

The poem also alludes to the Irish tradition of rural, pastoral poetry through its title ("Afternoon with Irish Cows") and implied setting of the Irish countryside.

"their big heads down in the soft grass" (Line 4)
Here, "big heads" is a metonymy for the cows as complete creatures.

"the black-and-white maps of their sides" (Line 11)
Here, "black-and-white maps of their sides" is also a metonymy for the cows as complete creatures.

The speaker personifies the cows throughout the poem by describing them with traits that apply to human beings:

"There were a few dozen who occupied the field" (Line 1)
The word "occupied" is typically used to refer to where a human lives in a house, but is used here to refer to the cows grazing in the field.

"facing in all directions, waiting for rain." (Line 12)
The speaker imagines that the cows are waiting for it to rain. Waiting implies a plan or intention.

"How mysterious, how patient and dumbfounded" (Line 13)
The speaker ascribes human characteristics and emotions to cows, such as being patient and dumbfounded (so silent that one cannot speak).

"laboring upward as she gave voice / to the rising, full-bodied cry" (Lines 25-26)
"Gave voice" is traditionally used to refer to a human speaking and articulating their thoughts.

"Then I knew that she was only announcing / the large, unadulterated cowness of herself," (Lines 29-30)
"Announcing" is typically used to refer to a human speaking out loud and conveying a message.

"pouring out the ancient apologia of her kind" (Line 31)
An "apologia" is a formal, written defense that is usually produced and written by a human.

"while she regarded my head and shoulders" (Line 34)
"Regarded" is typically used to refer to a human examining or making a judgment about something.

"as if they had taken wing, flown off to another country." (Line 7)
The speaker uses hyperbole to suggest the cows have disappeared and flown away, yet they are just grazing out of sight.

"to see which one of them was being torched / or pierced through the side with a long spear." (Lines 20-21)
The speaker also uses hyperbole to describe the cow's noise, overemphasizing the strikingness and potential pain conveyed by the noise.

her neck outstretched, her bellowing head / laboring upward as she gave voice / to the rising, full-bodied cry / that began in the darkness of her belly / and echoed up through her bowed ribs into her gaping mouth." (Lines 24-28)
The speaker continues to use hyperbole in dramatically describing the cow's noise in detail.

“Bellowing” (Line 24)
"echoed" (Line 28)