In the Hollow of the Wave: Virginia Woolf and Modernist Uses of Nature

5. Crossing the Species Barrier

154 Crossing the Species Barrier I like to think of the tree itself: first the dry sensation of being wood; then the grinding of the storm; then the slow, delicious ooze of sap. I like to think of it, too, on winter’s nights standing in the empty field with all leaves close-furled, nothing tender exposed to the iron bullets of the moon, a naked mast upon an earth that goes tumbling, tumbling all night long. The song of birds must sound very loud and strange in June; and how cold the feet of insects must feel upon it, as they make laborious progresses upon the creases of the bark. . . . One by one the fibres snap beneath immense cold pressure of the earth, then the last storm comes and, falling, the highest branches drive deep into the ground again. Even so, life isn’t done with; there are a million patient, watchful lives still for a tree, all over the world, in bedrooms, in ships, on the pavement, living rooms. . . . It is full of peaceful thoughts, happy thoughts, this tree. •Woolf, “The Mark on the Wall” On my birthday we walked among the downs, like the folded wings of grey birds; & saw first one fox, very long with his brush stretched; then a second; which had been barking, for the sun was hot over us; it leapt lightly over a fence & entered the furze—a very rare sight. How many foxes are there in England? •Woolf, Diary 5 Crossing the Species Barrier 155 Animals have a pervasive, varied, and versatile presence throughout Virginia Woolf’s life and writings, as already suggested by the Stephen family ’s engagement with natural history, in chapter 2. Julia Stephen’s children’s stories featured talking and thinking animals (monkeys, goats, pigs, cats, and birds,includingaparrotandanowl).Theyteachthatgoodchildrenaresensitive to kind treatment of animals. A little girl named “Ginia,” who has been naughty, misses out on much of the action in “The Monkey on the Moor,” located in a beach setting very like St. Ives. Woolf exchanged animal nicknames through much of her life. Her nurturing half sister Stella was dubbed “cow.” Virginia bore the name “goat.” This may suggest a creature only partly domesticated, or capable of stubborn independence (Vanessa occasionally preceded the “goat” with the masculine “Billy”).1 Vanessa received Virginia’s congratulations on her engagement to Clive Bell in a letter signed by a group of apes and one marsupial: “V’s devoted Beasts Bartholomew, Mango & Wombat.” The red-headed prospective bridegroom was dubbed a “new Red Ape of a kind not known before who is better than all other apes because he can both talk and marry you.”2 Woolf also exchanged nicknames in affectionate relationships with women, starting with Violet Dickinson. Her “dearest creature,” Vita, offered “Potto,” a dog persona, for Virginia (Sackville-West, Letters 331). Woolf teased Ethel Smyth about her demands, via animal analogy, proclaiming Smyth “without exception the most cross grained, green-eyed, cantankerous, grudging, exacting cat or cassowary I’ve ever met!” (L 5:314). Leonard Woolf’s pet name “Mongoose” makes some sense for a man recently returned from Ceylon, conjuring up the heroic Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, the saviorofanAnglo-IndianfamilyfrommurderouscobrasinRudyardKipling’s The Jungle Book. An African native and the largest of all monkeys, “Mandrill” is more difficult to explain for Virginia.3 A gender-related problem (perhaps a source of humor) is that the posterior of the male flushes a vivid red when aroused for mating. Woolf played with these attributes in a letter to “Immundus Mongoosius Felicissimus,” saying that Mandrill “wishes me to inform you delicately that her flanks and rump are now in finest plumage, and invites you to an exhibition” (L 2:35, December 1913). Animal identities, reaching well into Woolf’s maturity, might comment lightly on regrettable behavior, or work into fantasies that facilitated disclosures about the body and sexual desire—otherwise subjects of reticence and coding for Woolf.4 ManyofWoolf’scharactersaredescribedaslookinglikebirdsandanimals. 156 In the Hollow of the Wave ScropePurvis,forexample,seesMrs.Dallowayresemblingajay,“blue-green, light, vivacious” as she sets forth in the morning (MD 4). Woolf’s characters, like her own family, regularly have pet dogs, net butterflies and moths, and observe the behavior of birds. The hunt lurks in the cultural background, providing a model for play among children, a pastime for the privileged, and memories for elderly men returned from empire. Hunting, herding, and fishing serve Woolf further...