The Penguin Book of Irish Poetry

by Patrick Crotty

"The Penguin Book of Irish Poetry" features the work of three Nobel laureates - W.B. Yeats, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney - as well as Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, Thomas Moore, Patrick Kavanagh, Louis MacNeice, Eavan Boland and James Joyce. It also includes epigrams, traditional verses and Old Irish songs, with 250 new English translations by the greatest poets currently working, including Seamus Heaney and Ciaran Carson. Reflecting everything from Ireland's rich history of writing about the land, to its untypical prominence of women in and writing its poetry, and the abundance of oppositions that have preoccupied its verse through the ages (from Christian and pre-Christian attitudes, to Gaels and Vikings, Nationalism and Unionism, Catholicism and Protestantism, the Irish and English languages), this is an inclusive and masterfully arranged collection of Irish verse. "The Penguin Book of Irish Poetry" is an indispensable and important guide to the country's unparalleled literary culture.

The jacket design of this edition is by Coralie Bickford-Smith.

Genres: Poetry, Ireland, Irish Literature, Anthologies, Fiction, Classics, Literature

500 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2010

About the author

Patrick Crotty is emeritus Professor of Irish and Scottish Literature at the University of Aberdeen. He has published widely on Irish, Scottish, welsh and American poetry, has been a regular reviewer for the Times Literary Supplement since 1992. His verse translations have featured in many books and periodicals. He edited Modern Irish Poetry: An Anthology (1995) and The Penguin Book of Irrish Poetry (2010). He has also edited the firt volume (1908 - 1930) of the annotated Complete Collected Poems of Hugh MacDiarmid.

Reviews

[Philipp Sorge · Rating 5 out of 5]

And he who never saw you
Has lived and died a fool.

[MyBookAffair]

What a beautiful book! It's huge - with 1120 pages. Such a wonderful present... I know it will be a beloved companion over the coming years. With a foreword by Seamus Heaney, I just can't wait to get dug in.

[Ciarán · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some odd choices

[Judyta Szacillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, a disclaimer: I'm not particularly receptive to poetry, I don't read it often, and I'm largely ignorant of most of that there is. But, very occasionally, I feel a need to dive into it, either looking for inspiration, or because I've read something else that has pointed me there.

Obviously, I have not read all the contents of this book. It's a thousand pages long anthology! I imagine it must be the most comprehensive of all. The contents are divided into nine wide-ranging sections in a not too exact chronological order. Poems are separated from songs, though the editor admits that the boundaries between them are porous. There are translations from Latin and Irish as well as works originally written in English (including Middle English).

Just skimming through this immense collection took me several days. I've properly read perhaps one twentieth of what there is, or maybe even less, but it was enough to reassure me in the belief I share with quite many others that the Irish are generally damn good at poetry.

That is not to say that I loved every bit of it. As I said earlier, I'm not really that much into poetry. Especially not contemporary poetry, with the exception of Seamus Heaney. But there was one piece that I would like to mention especially, because it rang very strong with me. It's a famous poem by W. B. Yeats - I knew of its existence but never read it until now - 'Easter 1916'. Its the kind of poetry that leaves one's heart hammered.

[segosha · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's difficult to decide when I can officially count this as read, but I've owned it for a year now and I don't think there's many poems left in it that I haven't read at least once. One of my very favourite books that I own - it has pride of place on my bookshelf now that's moved away from my bedside locker

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

John F. Deane poetry!