Poetry and Protest: Irish Poetry in the twentieth and twenty-first century

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course will examine Irish poetry, written both in Irish and English, through the prism of protest. A translation into English will be available for the poems in Irish. We will explore the public role occupied by the poet in Ireland and the concurrent anxieties and responsibilities of the role. The course will examine the formal prosodic dimensions of the poems and students will also learn about the historical circumstances in which the poems were produced. The course will include the work of WB Yeats, PH Pearse, JM Plunkett, Seán Ó Ríordáin, Máirtín Ó Direáin, John Montague, Seamus Heaney, Máire Mhac an tSaoi, Eavan Boland, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Paul Durcan, Paula Meehan, Liam Ó Muirthile, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Michael O’Loughlin, Aifric MacAodha, Thomas McCarthy, Ciaran Carson, Theo Dorgan, Gerry Murphy, Gail McConnell, Rachael Hegarty, Trevor Joyce . The course will be delivered in a chronological and thematic fashion. Learning outcomes: Knowledge and appreciation of contemporary Irish Poetry