The Bull Moose

“The Bull Moose” is a commentary on how alienated humans have become from nature. The relationship between nature and humans is often the subject of romantic poetry, with humans exhorted to return to the bosom of nature—the source of ultimate beauty and wisdom. However, by the time Nowlan wrote his poem, no such return is possible since the relationship between nature and human is completely broken. The speaker of his poem does not even try to bridge this gap, as the bull moose and humans may as well exist on parallel but utterly separate planes.

The first hurdle the human world has for the bull moose is spatial, in the form of the “pole-fenced pasture” (Line 4). The pasture stops the descent of the wild moose, and literally confines him within an enclosure. The words “pole” and “fenced” evoke harsh, geometric lines around the moose, who symbolizes the raw purity of nature. Both fences and poles are human items meant to contain and restrain. They also appropriate lands that are wild and common. The fences and poles represent how human beings colonize the natural habitat through architecture and encroachment.

Once in the human-built enclosure, the moose loses whatever little energy he retained.