in memory of dog

 

    I loved the contrast between the two readings this week. They're both on the slightly somber topic of pets dying, and there's a pretty big difference in the epitaphs written for pets in each reading. Ingrid Tague's Dead Pets, she discusses the earliest instances of pet epitaphs in the 18th century. These epitaphs were often satirical, or broad, focusing on birds in general rather than the specific bird that died. I think it's interesting to see how our relationship with pets has changed since its beginnings. First of all, almost no one has a pet monkey nowadays. Other than that significant change, pets have become so much more normalized and treated more like family than animal that I can't imagine someone being okay with a poem satirizing their pets' death. On the other hand, we don't typically write poems for our pets. It is important to note, however, that a lot of these epitaphs were written more to show off the skills of the author than to memorialize the pet. 

    It didn't stay this way though, several of these epitaphs are quite touching. I really loved Lord Byron's inscription for his dog. I think the statement is made even more powerful by the fact that Lord Byron himself wanted no memorial, but wanted to memorialize his pet in such a way. In his poem, Lord Byron comments on the innocence of dogs, compared with the nature of men. He is essentially lamenting the fact that men lay claim to a Heaven despite being so flawed, while man's "firmest friend", Dogs, are unhonored on earth and denied a soul in heaven.  It's a beautiful poem, and an interesting insight into the relationship dogs have been given within religion. I think in our modern-day, most Christians believe that dogs can in fact go to heaven, and the Catholic pope himself has proclaimed that "all God's creatures" will go to heaven. It's an interesting cultural shift, and I think Lord Byron would be happy to see it.

    Both these readings reminded me of the memorial for Hachiko, the Japanese dog that waited at a train station for his owner to return. He waited there daily for 9 years after the owner's death. Today there is a statue of Hachiko at the Shibuya train station, and Hachiko is buried by his owner. I love the ways the humans memorialize the dogs that they loved, whether it be physical memorials or the written word