動物主題詩歌在英國詩歌傳統中具有不可忽視的地位。在關注自然與環境的當代,動物詩歌成為當代英國文學的重要元素。約翰·伯恩賽德、艾麗斯·奧斯瓦爾德和凱瑟琳·杰米的詩歌創作,多層次、多側面地思考人類與動物之間的關系,打破了將動物意象作為人類社會現象的隱喻和轉喻這一長期的傳統,建構了將動物生活與人類生活放在同等重要、同樣價值的觀念體系,將動物生活作為人類生活的比鄰與參照,提出人類與動物平等相處、相互啟發,與自然和諧共生的新型關系。英國當代的動物詩歌,深入思考當代日益嚴峻的生存環境,顛覆了以往習以為常的人與動物之間的鴻溝,突出在當代生態環境下,動物及其生活方式對人類的啟示,提出人與動物的關系也是人與自然關系的核心與出發點。英國當代動物詩歌的創作與書寫,既是對英國動物詩歌傳統的承繼和創新,也是對社會、生態和人類中心主義的思考和超越。

Animal poetry plays an important role in the tradition of British poetry. With the development of eco-criticism, animal poetry has drawn attention of many contemporary poets and critics. John Burnside, Alice Oswald, and Kathleen Jamie are the most prominent poets who reflect on the relationship between human world and animal world, understand the significance of animal world’s connection with nature, and explore a harmonious relationship between human beings and animals. By depicting different kinds of animals and pondering on their relationship with human beings, the poets abandon the tradition of using animal images to describe the human society, regard the animal world as an equal of the human world in their poetic works, and promote a non-anthropocentric representation of animal in contemporary British poetry.