Judith Wright and Virgil's Third Georgic

Georgic as a genre is largely predicated on the interaction of humans and non-human animals. This chapter explores the role of non-human animals in georgic by comparing Virgil's third Georgic on livestock with selected poems of Judith Wright (1915–2000), an Australian poet writing some two thousand years later, but imbued with a deep knowledge of Classical myth and close experience of farming. Comparison of the different ways in which the two poets depict both domestic animals and the wild animals outside the farm fences, as well as the humans that cohabit with them, demonstrates the need for ongoing reflection on what farming costs the natural world, and the difficulties of the relationship between farmer and fauna if we attempt to decentre human experience. At the same time, the conversation generated by putting Virgil and Judith Wright side by side demonstrates the ongoing relevance of the georgic genre as a forum for exploring these vital ideas.