Poetry and Food

Poetry and Food seem made for each other, yet the remarks that open the entry on literature and food have a bearing here also, so that any examination of the relationship needs to distinguish between the metaphorical deployment of good things to eat, or even of things which repel, and poems which thrust food and feeding centre-stage as the main topic in view. Robert Palter’s (2002) extended contemplation of the symbolic and allusive use of fruit in poetry of all ages and cultures cannot be bettered, and may permit more attention to work that might be literally described as food poetry.