1,000 Years of Irish Poetry

by Kathleen Hoagland (Editor)

The most comprehensive single-volume collections of Irish poetry. Contains all of Ireland's great poetic voices from the anonymous fashioners of the Cuchulain cycle to Yeats and the great Irish poets of this century.

Genres: Poetry, Ireland, Irish Literature, History, Mythology, Anthologies

800 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very long anthology that tries very hard to be comprehensive. As a resource for those interested in the history of Irish poetry it is quite useful (the subtitle is "The Gaelic and Anglo-Irish Poets from Pagan Times to the Present"). For scholars it has less utility as it is rather short on annotations and there is no facing page original for those poems translated from the Irish. Also missing is much in the way of autobiographical data on the poets selected, especially the more recent ones, so the reader has to do her own research to determine why certain poems and poets were selected for inclusion. The anthology is now somewhat dated, as it was originally compiled in 1947 and the copyright renewed in 1975, so those interested in more recent poetry (e.g., Seamus Heaney) will be disappointed. Still and all, an impressive collection which includes sainted figures from the distant past, anonymous songs and street poems, and some of the icons of Irish literature (e.g., Joyce, Yeats).

[René · Rating 5 out of 5]

My introduction to Irish poetry and literature when I was a teenager. Introduced me to so many great Irish writers and translators and Irish myths, legends, historical figures, songs... Opened a door for me.

[Anya]

From 1947 (when rhymes were rimes).
Starts with "the first poems written in Ireland", "those of Amergin or Aimirgin, who was brother of Evir, Ir, and Eremon, the first Milesian princes who colonized Ireland many hundreds of years before Christ. [...] the three pieces ascribed to Amergin are very ancient and very strange. But the whole story of the Milesian invasion is wrapped in mystery..." which would be a great start to any book!

The Mystery, ???/ BCE/ start of Ireland (3)
*Invocation to Ireland/ The Incantation, ??? (4-5)
*Deer's Cry, St. Patrick, 7th c. (12-14)
The Holy Man, 8th c. (17)
My Little Lodge, 8th c. (18)
From the Triads of Ireland, 9th c. (22-23)
*Pangur Ban (27)
*On the Flightiness of Thought, 10th c. (44-45)
To Crinog, 10th c. (46-47)
Hospitality in Ancient Ireland, 13th c. (49)
*The Mothers' Lament at the Slaughter of Innocents, 13th c. (50-51)
Columcille the Scribe, 11th c. (52)
*The Ruined Nest, 11th c. (54-55)
The Church Bell at Night, 12th c. (105)
*Hail, Fair Morning, 15th c. (109-111)

The Downfall of the Gael, 16th c. (140-142)
The Careful Husband, 17th c. (150)
Why, Liquor of Life?, 17th c. (177-178)
O'Tuomy's Drinking Song, 18th c. (186-187)
The Dawning of the Day, 18th c. (194)
*The Midnight Court, 18th c. (204-227) -- reread
The Little White Cat, 18th c. (228-229)
Four Prayers, ?? (229-230) -- that 3-in-1 imagery, woah!

Brennan on the Moor, 17th/ 18th c?? (250-252) -- just wanted to say, Robin Hood
The Rakes of Mallow, 17th/ 18th c?? (294-295)
The Wearin' of the Green, 18th/ 19th c. (300-301)
Young Molly Bawn, 18th/ 19th c?? (304)

A Satire on the People of Kildare, 14th c (317-321)
A Riddle, 17th/ 18th c. (324)
from On the Death of Dr. Swift, 18th c. (327-328)
*from Night Piece on Death, 17th/ 18th c?? (332)
The Curse of Doneraile & Blessings on Doneraile, 18th c. (355-359)
The Old Story Over Again, 18th/ 19th c. (384-385)
Robin's Cross, 18th/ 19th c. (403-404)
It's Little for Glory I Care, 19th c. (442)
The Fairy Thorn, 19th c. (457-459)
The Walker of the Snow, 19th c. (464-466)

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This took me almost a year to get through, but I’m glad that I gave it the time. It introduced me to so many poets I’d never read. It’s a great place to start for a history of Irish poetry, a quality springboard.

[Belle Meade School]

891.621

[Letitia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I mean...what do you say about one of the most prolific and literate societies in human history? I took this book with me to read on the cliffs of Dingle and Moher, to meditate on as I hiked over green hills and watched waves whip themselves into foam. It did not disappoint. 1000 years of an island that for some reason drives the poetic soul to verse captured in one volume is of course massive, in an inspiring way. I don't think there was a single selection from this collection that disappointed. Funny, sharp, witty, soulful, plaintive, romantic...the Irish do it all. The ballad, rather than the epic, is certainly the mainstay of the genre, and I would recommend to anyone who loves a rhyming couplet and tongue-in-cheek social commentary.

[Bruce Fogerty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This anthology of Irish poetry over the last 1,000 years is superlative. The pagan verse hangs well with Anglo-Irish poetry from 700 years later. A definite lyrical commonality arches through the centuries.

I can’t possibly read it all so I am taking a sample from the different eras and from different poets.

[w gall · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are a lot of poems in this book which I have enjoyed. Those that speak of their battles with the English not so much. Not that I don't sympathize with their plight under the English yoke. Plenty of uplifting Christian devotional poems, which I especially liked.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love poetry and I'm Irish... so this was a great read for me

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a hard time getting past the first two pages...Amergin just sums it all to well up for me.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love all things Irish so perhaps I'm a bit prejudiced to this one.