As Far As They Know - Oct 19 2025

 

As Far As They Know

Oct 19 2025

The Great Dane is not a fast dog

even at play.

Its walk is deliberate,

its calm 

commands the room. 

And with that noble head

and ponderous body

there’s a certain gravitas to its demeanour. 

A dog with the regal bearing

that befits its grandiloquent name.

“The Great” . . .

an honorific 

reserved for venerated men

and heads of state.

So could a great Dane

 — Harald Blărand Gormsen —

whom history remembers 

as a stern but benevolent king

have lent his name

to this worthy breed?

I find it sad

that large breeds have such short lives,

while small yappy dogs

are blessed with long frenetic ones.

Size — in a dog — is apparently a handicap.

I gaze into the mournful eyes

of that phlegmatic giant

and feel the pathos of decline

the tragedy of death.

Even though I know it’s all projection, 

imagining a depth

that reflects me, not him;

dogs may be therapists,

but they’re not philosophers

or theologians. 

So if not depth, then purity,

an innocent animal 

with no notion of mortality

especially his own.

Dogs, who not only live in the now

but live forever

as far as they know.

I’m very fond of Labs;

a medium dog

who is longer-lived

if still not long enough,

and a charismatic breed

almost too easy to love.

While Great Danes 

must take a special kind of human

to accompany them

through that short but noble life.

A slow dog, who sleeps a lot.

A reserved dog

who contemplates the world

through soft brown eyes

that seem as bottomless as pools

and gaze mutely out,

its regal head at rest

on two massive paws.

And a majestic dog

who rarely barks.

A monastic silence

that seems wise beyond its years.

I just saw a beautiful and deeply affecting movie called The Friend. Or perhaps only a dog lover would be so affected. It features a Great Dane called Apollo, a breed I’ve never found of much interest, or ever been attracted to. But watching this film, I was impressed by his gravitas; identified with the growing attachment of his new and reluctant human companion (I shy away from “owner”); and felt very moved by the pathos of that too short life. I love Labs, but can now see the appeal of a Great Dane, its own peculiar charisma. There’s the deliberation and noble carriage, that contemplative gaze, and the preciousness of time together when you know it will be short.

A note of interest. “Bluetooth”, the technology, is improbably named for a 10th century Danish king, King Harald the Great, who united the warring tribes of Denmark and Norway. So we’re all — mostly unknowingly — already familiar with at least one Danish king. A great Dane indeed!