20th-Century Irish Poetry

3 units

In this course we will read poems by Ireland's most important 20th-century poets in historical, biographical, postcolonial, and mythological context. Beginning with the writings of Yeats that were most influential, we will then read poems by his immediate heirs: Clarke, Kavanagh, and MacNeice. Of the living poets we will read books by John Montague, Thomas Kinsella, Seamus Heaney, Derek Mahon, Michael Longley, Paul Muldoon, Medbh McGuckian, Ciaran Carson, and Eilean NiChuilleanain. We will consider the ongoing relevance of Irish language and myth for these poets, looking (for example) at excerpts from Kinsella's masterful translation of The Tain and tracking the unlikely persistence of the Irish in Muldoon's post-modern narratives. Students are strongly encouraged to take time before the class begins to familiarize themselves with Ireland's thorny history. Two texts are especially recommended for historical background: Roy Foster's "Modern Ireland" and Declan Kiberd's "Inventing Ireland: The Literature of the Modern Nation" (both are available in paperback). Requirements: attendance at Paul Muldoon's reading on March 17 at the International Writers Center, an oral report on one of the poets we are reading, a 5-7 page close reading of a poem, and a final paper that may develop from the oral report.