Earth Voices Whispering: An Anthology of Irish War Poetry 1914–45

by Gerald Dawe

In the first half of the 20th century, the men and women of Ireland experienced the brutal realities of a succession of wars – from the unrelenting casualties of WW1, to the domestic upheavals of the 1916 Rising and the Irish Civil War; from the romantic idealism of the Spanish Civil War, to the unimaginable horrors of WW2.

Earth Voices Whispering gathers together, for the very first time, a wide range of poetic voices that chart the human experiences of these wars, compiled and edited by Belfast-born poet and senior lecturer in Trinity College Dublin, Gerald Dawe. Featuring over three hundred poems by celebrated poets such as C.S Lewis, AE, W.B. Yeats, Patrick Kavanagh and Seamus Heaney, and including new poems by Derek Mahon and Eilean Ní Chuilleanain, the anthology records the thoughts and experiences of poets as soldiers, patriots, observers, protestors, medics and mourners.

From patriotism to anger, passion to compassion, hope to regret, this groundbreaking new anthology embraces the complex reality of a rich, unique and historically overlooked period in Irish poetry.

Genres: War, Ireland, Poetry, Irish Literature

416 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 2008

Reviews

[Author Annette Dunlea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Earth Voices Whispering Anthology is edited by Gerald Dawe. The editor Gerald is Belfast born and a literary prize winner and poet. He has no less than 7 collections in print. The book is published by Blackstaff Press and its ISBN is 0856408212. This is the first Irish war anthology to cover 5 wars from both points of view for over a 30 year period. It is simply a brilliant collection which fulfills a cultural need. There are over 250 poems from old poets and new. Many of my favourite poets have poems here: WB Yeats, Padraic Pearse, Francis Ledwidge, Patrick Kavanagh, Samuel Beckett, Thomas Kinsella, Brendan Keneally, Seamus Heaney and Paul Durcan. These poems have pathos, beauty and illumination and help us understand the period 1914-45. It should be essential reading for all historians and poets. This collection gives a poetic and literary view of Ireland's role in the wars of the period. Reviewed by Annette Dunlea author of Always and Forever and The Honey Trap.