There were a few dozen who occupied the field
across the road from where we lived
The first lines work in conjunction with the poem’s title to establish the tone and subject matter of the work. The title—“Afternoon with Irish Cows”—is brief yet descriptive, and it frames the following stanzas. The first line builds on this title by simply stating that “[t]here were a few dozen who occupied the field.” Without the context of the title, these lines would be vague and mysterious. When read alongside the title, however, they expand on the imagery of Irish cows by clarifying that there are a few dozen cows and that they are sprawled across an Irish field. This sparsely detailed line thus efficiently expands on the title to give the reader a mental image of the cows that the poem describes.
The fact that there were "a few dozen" cows shows not only the number of cows, but also the speaker's distance from them as he only estimates the number of cows. The second line references “we,” but the poem never further describes who the “we” are beyond the speaker himself. The use of the word “we” creates a symmetry with the first line—just as there are multiple cows, there are multiple humans. By leaving the specific identities of the “we” undefined, Collins creates a mental dichotomy between the cows as a broad group and humans as a broad group.
Then I knew that she was only announcing
the large, unadulterated cowness of herself
This quote encapsulates the poem’s focus on the mysteriousness and peacefulness of the cow specifically, and nature more broadly. The speaker initially believed that the cow’s mooing was a sign of intense pain or distress, due to its force and suddenness. When the speaker investigates, however, he realizes that the cow’s “moo” is a natural and instinctual sound that does not indicate pain. The use of the phrase “[t]hen I knew” marks this quote as the climax of the poem, as the speaker comes to a new realization regarding the cow and its natural environment.
Here, the speaker describes the cow’s sound as “announcing” herself. This word has connotations of pride, indicating that the cow is completely satisfied with its inner being and communicates its essence to the natural environment around it. Unlike the speaker, who is questioning and observing throughout the poem, the cow appears completely complacent and satisfied with their state of being.
The cow is also described as “unadulterated”--it exists simply as a cow and as part of nature. The word “unadulterated” connotes purity and essence. The cow is simply a cow being a cow, not trying to change any part of itself or modify its surroundings. This can be juxtaposed with the anxieties, plans, desires, and demands associated with human life. This quote thus conveys a broader message of self-acceptance, since humans are a part of nature just as cows are.
