Meaning & Analysis
A dog or wolf's barking has no physical effect on the moon. The action is therefore pointless, a complete waste of energy directed at an object that is indifferent and unreachable.
Insights
Futile Protest
The proverb symbolizes any futile effort or protest directed at an entity or force that is too powerful, remote, or indifferent to be affected. It speaks to the vanity of challenging the unchangeable.
Unattainable Desire
The moon represents a beautiful but unattainable object of desire or ambition. The barking signifies a hopeless and desperate longing for something that is, and will always remain, completely out of reach.
Insignificance and Powerlessness
The act illustrates the vast and unbridgeable gap between an insignificant individual (the dog) and a great power (the moon). It serves as a metaphor for the powerlessness and irrelevance of a minor entity trying to challenge a major one.
Celestial Indifference
The proverb draws on the symbolic opposition between the terrestrial (the base, primal wolf/dog) and the celestial (the remote, impassive moon). This dynamic elevates a simple act of futility into a cosmic drama, representing the inherent powerlessness of the mortal or earthly when confronting the divine, fate, or any unchangeable, higher power.
Literary and Political Protest
Heavily featured in Elizabethan literature by authors like Lyly and Shakespeare, the proverb was a popular trope for expressing unrequited love (barking at an unattainable beloved) or impotent political rage. Shakespeare's reference to 'Irish wolves against the moon' in 'As You Like It' also ties the image to specific English colonial attitudes, framing Irish rebellion as wild and futile.
Psychology of Impotent Rage
Psychologically, the act of 'barking at the moon' represents a cathartic yet pointless expression of frustration. It captures the human tendency to rage against immutable realities or overwhelmingly powerful forces, highlighting a state of helpless defiance where the expression of anger is the only available, albeit ineffective, recourse.
Rhetorical Devices
Evocative Imagery
The proverb's power comes from the stark visual and auditory image of a lone, agitated animal howling at a silent, distant, and serene celestial body, creating a memorable picture of useless struggle.
Symbolism
The dog or wolf symbolizes base, earthly frustration and impotent rage, while the moon symbolizes a remote, impassive, and superior power. This symbolic pairing gives the proverb its deep metaphorical resonance.
Antithesis
A strong contrast is drawn between the noisy, agitated, and ultimately powerless animal and the silent, calm, and unaffected moon. This antithesis powerfully underscores the theme of futility.
Transcription
Quotations
They playe as the dogge doeth that barketh at the moon all nyght.
This dogge barketh agaynste the moone.
As lykely to obtain thy wish, as the Wolfe is to catch the Moone.
Eager Wolues bark at the Moone though they cannot reach it.
Nor so eger as the wolfe, to barke at the moone, I cannot catch.
I tell thee Montanus, in courting Phoebe thou barkest with the Wolves of Syria against the Moone.
I am none of those Wolues, that barke most when thou [Cynthia] shynest brightest.
But brauling wolues, you cannot byte the moone.
Now barks the wolf against the full-cheek'd moon.
The wolf But barks against the moon, and I contemn it.
Shakespeare Citations
The wolf behowls the moon.
Pray you, no more of this; 'tis like the howling of Irish wolves against the moon.
I had rather be a dog and bay the moon Than such a Roman.
Cross References
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.